No Reading
by Meinos Kaen
Summary: When dealing with things that you will no longer have in control after your death, it's always wise to have a back up plan. The one regarding Naruto had the effect of dropping him in the middle of Westchester county. COMPLETE
1. Getting Started I

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto nor Marvel… MEINOS SMASH.

I've wanted to write a Naruto/Marvel crossover since EVER. At first, I tried with a Gambit!Naruto story, but it didn't come out as I wanted. So, I dropped it. A lots of ideas came in my mind, till I realized that making Naruto imprint on Marvel heroes wasn't what I was looking for. So, I decided, let's just bring the normal Naruto in a new environment. Then, I had to decide which series would be more appropriate for our blonde ninja. The choice fell on the X-Men continuity. So… Enjoy!

_Prologue_

Seal. One word. Sealing. One action. In a normal vocabulary, you find various typical definitions: Something which will be visibly damaged if a covering or container is opened, and which may or may not bear an official design. Something designed to prevent liquids or gases from leaking through a joint. Security against leakage. And, of course, pinniped large marine fish-eating mammal.

In this case, what we should focus on is the first and second definition. Security against leakage that will be visibly damaged if a covering or container is opened. In this case, our seal is sustaining heavy damage. Almost half of what it contains is coming out.

Now, in case a seal fails to do his work, it's always better to have a back-up plan. And that is the case of this seal. The person who developed the seal thought that it would be nice to have a back-up plan in case someone ever found a way to break it or in case it broke on its own. After a bit of thinking, he decided that he would use the very seal as a back-up plan.

"**Grrrr…"** Everyone who had just witnessed it couldn't believe their eyes. Orochimaru had just stabbed and then slammed Naruto in a mountain with his Kusanagi… And yet, the creature that he had now become wasn't even scratched. The attack hadn't even grazed him.

"…" Yamato could see the worry on Orochimaru's face. And Yamato was as worried, if not more. If Jiraiya-sama had almost been killed by Naruto, in that state… He needed to hurry. Time to put the cells of the Shodaime to good use… Before it got worse. After all… Those were just four tails. And he could sense the amount of chakra slowly going up.

And if to confirm his worries, the chakra of the kyuubified Naruto started to flare. He emitted a loud roar that would have been the envy of every lyric singer. That is, if lyric singers were undercover agents with the mission of ruining their audience's hearing. And for anyone near the boy enveloped in chakra, the sight of a forming fifth tail was evident.

That was it. The trigger. When the Yondaime had developed the seal, he had put into it the back-up plan. The very seal was the back-up plan. Or better, what it held. The seal held not only the Kyuubi inside Naruto's belly, but it kept on hold another thing. A jutsu. Another jutsu he had developed. Something that he had developed while studying the summoning jutsu and his own original jutsu, the Hiraishin.

The problem was, it was virtually useless. No human in the world had enough chakra to make the jutsu work. He had archived it long time before… But it came to him in mind right after developing the seal. He decided that it would be his back-up plan. It took him a hell of work, but he had managed to insert the technique into the seal. And that was why it had to be him, not his predecessor. He was the only one who knew how to do that. To put a technique inside another technique. That was something that no one knew. A secret he had brought with him in the grave.

He had made so that the technique would activate when the seals, breaking, would leak out enough chakra. A perfect back up plan. Not only it would activate once he was sure the things would get out of hand, but it would use the same chakra that was generated. And the other flaws had been turned into security measures.

The other flaws of the technique were that, unlike Kuchiyose, the place or in this case the dimension where the target was going to be sent couldn't be controlled with precision. The most he had managed to do had been 'as far as possible'. And the second but last flaw was the area of effect. It couldn't be away from the user and it wasn't larger than a couple of meters.

"**Rrr… Ngrrr!"** When its own chakra got out of his control, the reaction of the creature was surprise. When it changed colour from red to blue and started enveloping it in a cocoon he was downright growling. He growled even more when the cocoon suddenly crashed into the ground just below his feet.

"What…" The other ninjas around were as surprised as the Naruto thing, it seemed. And the seeming still cocoon of chakra suddenly started moving in another way. It started to rotate around Naruto, cutting into his own tails of chakra and grinding into the ground, earning even more growls from the monster. It tried to slash at the barrier currently imprisoning him, but to no avail.

"**Graaaaaaaaaaaaaaar!"** And even more suddenly the movement changed again. Always rotating at max speed, the cocoon started to shrink, quickly, along with its angry content. In a few seconds, the cocoon shrunk as little as possible and then disappeared, leaving behind just a little crater instead of a rampaging Kyuubi in miniature.

"…" In Yamato's mind, in a couple of seconds, passed a lot of questions. The louder one was… "How am I going to explain this to Tsunade-sama?" Orochimaru silently laughed at the poor fool's misfortune.

* * *

"Fucking stupid work, fucking stupid beasts in need of being guarded…"

"_Come on, man. It's a quiet and well paid job."_

"That's exactly the problem, fucker." The man lit up a cigarette. Good thing the 'freaking mecha', like his son called them had an efficient air venting system. So, at least he could smoke. But it still was damn tiring. Standing inside a three-stores robot keeping guards to those fucking beasts. He didn't even use the word mutants, or muties. Just beasts. He still didn't understand why he had been given that assignment, if they knew how he felt about them. Weren't they afraid that he could just take control of the robot and stomp on the school in their sleep?

And he still didn't understand why he kept on asking himself the same question. He damn right knew why. It was because he was a fucking pro. Professional to the bones. No matter what on his mind, he would keep to his assignment. But he still didn't like how boring it was. "I mean, it's just… I wanted a bit more action when I started this job."

"_Like, more than guarding them, you would have liked to fight them."_

"Yeah… You know, sometimes I hope one of those idiots just suddenly freaks out and… Woah!" He got startled, alright. But hell, who wouldn't be when something fell on top of your 'freaking mecha' hard enough to shake it. But liked he had said, he was a professional. He turned on all the sensors of the robot and looked on the various monitors. The front one. Nothing.

"_Julius, your right arm. It landed on your right arm… What the hell is that thing?"_

"The right…" Julius made the 'eyes' of the robot turn to the location suggested by his coworker… And he had the same definition. "The hell?"

It wasn't a mutant, otherwise the sensors would have told him… Scratch that. They said 'No reading'. From eyes… It was a smoking black thing… Reddish black. But his eyes and the inside of his… Maw were… Shining white? "What the fuck is that thing?"

It was currently smoking, holding onto the Sentinel's arm with his claws, his three tails swinging wildly behind him… Then, slowly, it raised his head to look at the sentinel's face.

"… Mutant! Or whatever you are! Stand down!" He turned on the 'speakers' of the Sentinel to a high enough volume to have woken up most of the people in the school. Well, if they hadn't been woken up by the lights they had turned on right after the thing had fallen on his arm. It didn't listen. Or it didn't understand. It didn't matter much. What mattered was that he just stared at the sentinel's blankly, as blank a demonic face could look like… Before jumping towards it. "What the… …" Now it was Julius' time to blank, since the strange red thing had raised a paw above his head, ready for a strike… But he really didn't expect for said appendage to suddenly get as big as the arm of his own robot. "Oh, sh--"

When the paw slammed into the robot with such force to the point of making it lose balance fall on his back, he started to curse his son's stupid Japanese cartoons and when he had thought how could it would have been fighting monsters aboard his own mecha, since he had one.

* * *

"Can't get one decent night of sleep…" Cyclops wasn't one for sarcasm, but sometimes it was needed. When it helped him focus and shake away things like drowsiness. He didn't waste time changing out of his pyjamas. Emma was forced to. Didn't want some students to faint on the spot.

A sentinel suddenly turning on his light and shouting a sentence like 'Mutant! Or whatever you are! Stand down!' and then an earthquake very likely caused by the fall of that same sentinel wasn't a good sign at all. Especially when the sentinels were supposed to protect them or prevent them from going out of the mansion. So, either someone of the 198 had decided to be stupid, or they were under attack.

"Bobby, with me. Hank, the students and the 198."

"Alright, I can understand recognizing Hank by the smell, but how did you understand it was me without…"

"Bobby, I suggest we discuss later about Scott's wide vision and how I should make you think over your last words about my body odours." The blue feline mutant used his abilities to jump over his two companions and proceed in the directions he wanted to head towards.

"Sheesh… Never time to joke." Bobby began to walk beside Scott while taking his ice form. "I still can't do it like Spider-Man, I suppose…"

"That's because our common friend seems to know instinctively the right time for them, Bobby."

"That, and he can dodge bullets, unlike you."

"Well, why dodge them when you can block them, Kitty." The enormous Russian hurried in front of his companions and opened the main doors of the academy. The others followed him outside almost immediately. Bobby voiced the general reaction in his own way.

"That is so not a paw. No way." Indeed it was. It seemed that whatever had attacked them could get his limbs to grow in size. First time he had seen a Sentinel being palmed under the chin by a giant red paw.

"… Where's Bishop? I don't think that thing is made completely out of flesh and blood." Scott adjusted his glasses.

"He went out for the night, Scott." The white queen approached her lover and the other X-Men, who however just kept their focus on whatever was happening in front of them. "… I don't… It's very confusing, Scott. That thing is alive, but… All I can get from him is bloodlust, and a want for destruction… But there's something else, deep down…"

"You need time. We'll give you time." Scott adjusted his glasses one more time, leaving his right hand on it, ready to take them off whenever it was needed. "Let's go, X-Men."

* * *

It didn't understand. But it didn't matter. It just wanted to destroy, more and more. While Jiraiya had found out methods to stop it and about his behaviour, he didn't have time to study what went trough the mind of the Kyuubified Naruto. The blonde shinobi didn't get possessed by the Kyuubi or anything like that. It was more like Naruto's mind transformed. He changed from the cheerful shinobi to something else completely under the influence of the Kyuubi. Getting his bloodlust and power without getting his wits and cunningness.

That was why after reappearing in the sky over the X-Mansion and landing on a sentinel, it didn't matter that his surroundings weren't the same anymore. It didn't matter that his enemies were changed. All that mattered was that he could hurt them. That he could rip them apart. Like he was doing right now.

Using his giant claw he had just opened an enormous rip in the sentinel's body, earning colourful expression by its pilot.

"_Fuck! Fuck! This damn monster has just clawed trough my armor like it was my grandma's apple-pie!__ He hit the generator! Losing power! I'm fucking shutting down!"_

"**Rrrrr…"** Kyuubi Naruto stopped for a few seconds, observing his handywork. And he didn't understand why there was not a trace of that red liquid he expected to come out. He growled before raising his paw again. He probably just needed to dig deeper… **"Raaaaaaaaagh!"** One of its preys had reacted. The other big one. He had hit him with a big blue energy beam, sending him rolling and on the ground beside the other.

"_I got him! I got him, Julius!!"_ Pulsar beam. One of the most powerful weapons on his robot, thought the other pilot. That had had to put him out of commission… He had to think again. Suddenly three tentacles… No, tails. First the claws, now he had made his tails get bigger. The tree appendages had just slammed and pierced trough the stomach, the solar plexus and the head of the sentinel. He had to duck to not get hit himself. _"Holy…!"_

"**Rrrrr…"** The creature slowly walked towards the sentinel's feet, observing his handywork. Still no blood… Where was the blood? The red sticky liquid… Maybe if he rip it apart… **"Rrrr… Raagh!"**

Another beam. This time, though, it was different. This one wasn't azure. This one was red. Similar to the sticky liquid he wanted to see. But this one was more powerful too. The shock of the hit made him turn his tails' size back to normal and sent him flying for a few meters.

"Nice shot, Scott. Now, for some crowd control." Bobby was the next to act. He immediately used his powers to immobilize the creature under ice. He then patted his hands together. "There. That should do it."

"… What… What is this thing?" Kitty voiced everyone's thoughts while observing the creature now trapped under Bobby's ice. She had never seen anything like that… Even staying near it gave her a bad vibe. "A mutant?"

"Niet." Piotr, Peter for no-tovarish friends, kneeled in front of the creature, who wasn't moving as much as before. It was like it was observing the ground near his face. "Otherwise the pilot would have shouted it the first time."

"Contact the ONE. We'll need assistance to apprehend him."

"…" The creature turned his head towards them, startling Bobby a little. It really looked freaky.

"Guys, it's looking at us." He stopped when he realized another thing. "His head made a 180°. That's not normal."

"Nothing about this thing is normal." Emma had reached the others, and she was holding her hands to her head, focusing on using her mental powers. "Since Scott hit him, he has like… Calmed down. I can… It's like there are two minds, in that thing. Merged together to create this."

"You mean… It's like, possessed or something?" Asked Kitty. Emma closed her eyes and nodded slightly.

"…" It was a turmoil. Even in this state of apparent calm, it was a turmoil of emotions. But she managed to separate most of them. "… The blood-lust and want for destruction come from the more overwhelming of the two. The other one… I feel rage, and confusion…"

"…" Scott observed the creature from behind his red glasses, and then sighed. "I hope this isn't some experiment to recreate the Hulk or anything like that…"

"**Rrr…"** The creature observed the new preys in front of it. Smaller ones, but they hit harder than the big ones… Maybe that was it. The big ones didn't bleed because they hit not as these ones. The little ones hit harder… So, maybe. **"Rrrrrrrraaaaaarrrr!"**

"What the… Uoah!" Bobby dodged just in time. The first hint had been the 'Crunch' sounds, like something had just slammed into solid ground, followed by another set that signalled his tails exiting the ground. One hit Colossus straight in the chest, but without damaging him. The last one went for Cyclops, but he dodged it with a little jump like Iceman. "Is there anything of his body that this guy can't manipulate?"

"For god's sake, Bobby…" The tails didn't lost time. They turned around and impaled the ice blocking their owner, over and over, till he managed to get free with an angry roar, shard of ice flying everywhere. Then, he immediately threw himself at his new target. The nearest one. Colossus. "Stop with the damn jokes!"

"Peter!"

"**Graaaaah!"** Strange. He threw himself at the shiny man with all his strength but he didn't even bulge. He was clawing at him, but he wasn't hurting him. He couldn't see tears. Or rips. Or scratches under his clothes.

"Tovarish…" Suddenly, he grabbed its hands. And with enormous strength, threw him to the ground. "Sit!"

"**Kkkeeeeeeeee!"** He couldn't hurt the shiny man. He needed more power. But he needed some time for more power. So, he had to do something else, for the moment. Maybe, if he couldn't hurt him, he could make him hurt others.

"What…!" Before the creature even touched the ground, its tails shot forward and grabbed Colossus, trying to lift him… And emphasis on trying.

"**Grrrr!"** Too heavy. He couldn't hurt him and he couldn't throw him. He would have to immobilize him. He made his tails get tighter around his neck, arms and legs.

"Nnnngh…" _Strong… Or is just these tails that are…_ He would need a few seconds to get free.

"**Kaah!"** He shot towards his claws towards the two females, only to watch one turn into another kind of shiny material before he closed it around her, while the other claw passed through the other girl like she hadn't been there.

"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh!" But she screamed nonetheless. He emitted a growl of satisfaction while she fell to the ground. But he couldn't focus on them much because he got attacked again by both his sides. The white man was sending again that chilly material that had blocked him before, while the last man was attacking his other side with that red beam.

"You like hitting girls, hn? Sick bastard."

"Kitty! What happened?"

"S-Scott was right, Emma… I mean, it's not… Made of flesh and bones only…" Kitty slowly got back on her feet. "It's like… I mean, what hit me was mostly energy… Harmful energy…"

"Damn you! Why don't you fall to the ground?!" Scott was getting worried too. He was using his eye beam with the same power that had managed to knock their opponent off his feet a few minutes before, and Bobby had already blocked him with his ice, so why now… He was hurting him, but not as before. And Bobby's ice didn't stick.

"S-Scott… I would suggest to use more power…" Peter was getting worried too. The enemy was strong, but not as strong as him… At first. It was like he was slowly getting stronger. To the point that now he was struggling to get free… And maybe… "Our friend is getting stronger as well!"

"Hey! He's growing another tail!" Indeed it was. And even if the transformation hadn't been as flashy as it had been before since he already was in that shape, the effects were. First, a roar that sent his malevolent energy flying everywhere, interrupting Scott's and Bobby's attacks. Then, his fourth tail grabbed Scott.

"Ngh!" And then in a flash, he threw Emma at Bobby and Scott and Colossus at Kitty, stunning them for a few seconds that he needed to hit them with a giant claw, sending them flying away for a few meters. The first to react and get back on his feet was Scott, of course. "Watch out, he could keep on… What is he doing, now?"

Scott observed in horror. He thought it felt a little too solid, that wave of energy. With that outburst, the creature had thrown in the air a big number of… Spheres. Spheres of solid energy, blue and reddish black. That he was now gathering in a bigger black sphere in front of his open mouth.

"… I don't know what it's happening, but I don't like it. Niet." Colossus regained his senses as well, along with the others. Just in time to see the sphere shrink and then the creature… Swallow it?

"Oh, my…" Emma was back in her human form and was scanning the creature's mind… And got shocked. "Scott! He's going to fire that thing at us!"

"He's going to…" Scott observed the creature suddenly becoming wider, and smoke coming out of his mouth. He understood. "Bobby!"

"Understood! Don't hold back!"

"Ahhh!" The leader of the X-Men unleashed his optic beam, and at the same time Iceman unleashed a flow of ice. They timed their attack perfectly. They unleashed it at the same time that the creature unleashed his own attack. A beam of red and white energy. The two forces clashed, with a tremendous shockwave in every direction. All the front windows of the X-Mansion got blasted away. But something else happened.

Cyclops had calculated exactly how much strength he would have needed to balance their attack with the one of the monster. But he didn't guess that the effect of two such force meeting would be devastating. His optical beam didn't explode… But their enemy's attack could. And did. The explosion didn't hurt them thanks to Emma, but it threw them back with enough force to knock most of them out. The explosion managed to even hurt Colossus, and that was saying something. The only ones still conscious were the metallic giant and Emma.

"Hmmm… I feel like a mule kicked me in the head…" Lamented Emma, while Peter slowly got back on his feet, having to observe, sadly, that their enemy was unfazed by the explosion.

"Hnn… I guess he can't be hurt by his own energy… Like Scott." Colossus slowly got back on his feet, and cracked his neck. "Emma. I will take care of this thing."

"Engaging him in close combat to stop him from using that attack again. Good idea… I will… Take care of the… Uh?"

"Hey, _porco_." Someone had just stolen Peter's idea. A few shadows ran past him towards the creature. The first to reach him was a very big, very rocky fellow. Who immediately proceeded to deliver a vicious hook to the monster's face. "Those are our teachers you're hurting!"

"Rockslide?" And like it wasn't enough, other students passed by her. In the arch of a few seconds the creature had been stabbed, electrocuted and punched again. "The students… Hank!"

"Sorry, Emma. The young ones are difficult to control. Be safe that the others accepted of staying inside to guard the others." Hank appeared right behind him along with Elixir. The golden-skinned boy kneeled beside Cyclops. "Elixir, tend to the wounded. I will join the fight. Emma, could you…"

"Pass what I learned about this beast to Celeste, Mindee and Phoebe so that they can do the same with the others. Already on it." Indeed she was. While not there physically, the Stepford cuckoos were observing the battle from a window of the mansion, and were already channelling the information needed from Emma to them and to all the others students.

"Alright, so, we need to engage him in close combat otherwise he will blast us all away with that beam." Noriko was having a field trip. One of the sentinels was still functioning. There was so much electricity in the air… "No problem with me. I feel so much energy that I could light Vegas."

"Hmmm… But I don't think it's having much effect." David was quick on detecting weak points… Or strong ones. Comes with being the team's tactic, even if you're depowered. And while he could see that under that black mass their enemy had flesh, he could also see that whatever damage he did, that black energy immediately covered and probably healed it. "It has a healing factor."

"Then we have to try with something else, I guess!" Rockslide used both his punches to hit the creature under its chin, sending it flying. "Hellion?"

"On it." After his 'power up', Julian had started having problems with his powers. He had problems slowly lifting a paper… But he had no problems with the big stuff. Like, taking everything that wasn't tied to the ground and hurling it at the monster. "And now, as a finisher…" Hellion focused. This was going to be great. He used his telekinesis to raise in the air the arm of one of the sentinels and dropped it vertically on the monster, punch first.

"Julian, that was a cool move! Almost as much as that time you started moving the pieces of my body to…" Julian covered his face. That was supposed to be a secret. Santo turned around to find Noriko and David staring at him. "… It was…"

"Just… Shut up, Santo. I…"

"Watch out!"

"!" The students didn't have time to react as Peter ran past them and met punches first the claw that had just sprouted from the ground and had tried to claw past them. "What the… That monster is still alive?!"

"… Girls, I think we should try another approach." Emma said to no one in particular.

* * *

"We're already on it, Miss Frost." The three-in-one were indeed trying to find a way to stop the monster from the inside. They were looking inside its mind, and they didn't like what they were seeing. Not a bit. Like Emma had already seen, the consciousness of the monster was the result of two others mixing together… Or better, one trying to overcome the other. But compared to before, when the monster was weaker, the more malevolent personality was even more in control than before. And they couldn't help but think that it was tied to his growth in power as well. "It seems that the more one of the two consciousnesses overcomes the other, the more powerful the beast becomes."

"So, we think a safe bet would be to help the other personality regain supremacy."

"That should take care of the problem."

_Understood. But I will need your help with this._

"Do you even…" One set of white eyes.

"Need to ask…" Two sets of white eyes.

"Miss Frost?" Three sets of white eyes.

* * *

The beast had eventually freed itself from the objects obstructing his movements. Some of the older X-Men had regained consciousness, and they were managing to actually hurting him and slowing him down. But he gave no sign of falling to the ground or surrendering. No. He just thought that he wanted to see blood. And for that he would need… Pain. **"Kraaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!"**

"What has… Oh." Bobby observed the light around the beast's head. "Telepathic attack."

Indeed. The beast was now thrashing on the ground, holding his head with his paws, roaring in excruciating pain, not focusing on his enemies anymore. Someone was in his head.

* * *

"… Who the hell imagines his head as a sewer?"

"There's something this way, miss Frost."

"Ugh… Good thing this is just a mindscape. I love these clothes." Indeed they were in a mindscape shaped like a sewer. But what was freaking Emma out was the strong feelings she was getting. Something powerful… And evil was emitting them. There was no other explanation, in her book. And she had confirmation of that when they turned the corner, finding themselves face to face with an incredible scenery. A fox. Or better, the head of a fox and two of his claws made out of red bubbles, holding between his paws, in a sphere of red energy a young man. A boy. Around her student's age. And it seemed like the fox was waiting for them. Its gaze fixed on them. "I guess we found out who's possessing who."

"_**Leave! Leave before I rip your souls apart!"**_ Trying to be intimidating. Emma stood unfazed.

"Let me think about that… No." Emma observed her surroundings. "You're behind a cage. So, I think that you're not supposed to possess this body. And while you can wreck havock by overwhelming the boy's consciousness on the outside, I'm pretty positive you have no powers here."

"…" The fox growled with all his might, trying to scare the four telepaths. To no avail. The cuckoos literally had no emotions anymore. Emma, she just had seen things much freakier and as scary, if not more.

"Wow. A few words for you: Mentos, the freshmaker." Then her eyes became white like her students. Who stood behind her. "Girls, I think we have a job to do, here. Ready to push back an evil fox in her den?"

"Always, miss Frost."

The Kyuubi didn't know what everything becoming white meant till he felt the mind-wave hitting him and pushing him back in his cage.

* * *

"**GROOOOOAAAAAAAARRRRRRRR!"**

"I think Emma and her groupies did the trick."

"Stay back!" Scott told the others just to be sure. It was always better to be safe when dealing with such amounts of energy. But it seemed that he had been wrong. The creature started to convulse, and then fell to the ground, silent and immobile. Then, the reddish energy began to disappear, and what made it black fell to the ground. It looked like black dust. The energy receded into the body that it was covering, which seemed pretty tanned or something like that. Scott slowly approached it along with the others.

"Young ones, you should…"

"Hey! He's around our age, more or less!"

"Stay back…" Hank rubbed the bridge of his nose. Teens… Talking of teens, everyone's attention was now focused on the healing form of the boy on the ground. It looked like whatever was covering him had burned his skin and most of his clothes. It was now healing at high speed. After finishing, they were looking at a blonde boy with whiskers-like marks on his cheeks and pink tanned skin, wearing burned up t-shirt and pair of pants and a couple of strange sandals, miraculously intact.

"… You know, he's kinda cute."

"Cessily? When the hell have you…"

**No Reading**

**Chapter1: Jamie's Lovechild**

"… _**It seems that luck is among your abilities**__**, Naruto."**_ The fox observed the sleeping boy in front of the cage now restricting him once more. It was strange. Every time the boy went to sleep, his sleeping form appeared in front of his cage. And the seal got even stronger during sleep. _**"You found people able to restrain me even in this place… Even if… They don't know that they're probably the luckiest ones."**_ The Kyuubi conceded himself a malicious laugh, growling right after. It wasn't very funny, in his opinion, that normally he could have ripped apart those… Strange humans. But he was immortal. And even if his friends believed the exact opposite, he wasn't interested in shortening his container's life. At all. They believed him to be stupid? His lifespan was currently the boy's lifespan. _**"… Enjoy your sleep, young shinobi." **_The fox slowly turned around, emitting a low growl. He spared the sleeping Naruto a last glance before turning around. _**"They will be your last peaceful ones… And not because of me only. I have this feeling."**_

* * *

"So… You say he basically shrugged off everything you threw at him?"

"Yes, Bishop. And that attack he threw at us… I really wished you had been here. Good thing Emma and the cuckoos managed to stop him. Or better, whatever was possessing him." Scott was observing the sleeping form of the blonde teen that had given them quite an eventful night. He was now sleeping in a change of clothes courtesy of the male teachers in a spare bed in a spare room of the mansion. Hank had insisted in changing his underwear too. That had been kinda creepy.

After he had fallen unconscious, he had been brought to the infirmary to check if he had any injuries and if he was going to give them any more problems of the harmful kind. Their machines didn't detect any injury nor any activity out of the normal, like his energy levels. Another thing. They had analyzed his blood. And they had found a little chromosome that had become very, very rare. The X-Gene.

"He's a mutant. But whatever his power is, it's not related to anything that happened last night." Scott placed a hand under his chin. "It was all… The other consciousness' doing. A demon, or some kind of magic… It reminded me of how Jean sometimes lost to the Phoenix's will."

"Hmmm… Well, the effects are very similar. Destructive." Bishop looked outside the window. He had lost the count of how many units from the ONE had come to clean out what was left of the two Sentinels. "But if he's a mutant… How come we didn't know about his existence? And his other 'power'. So powerful and out of control. I can't believe the S.H.I.E.L.D. could miss it."

"… I wish I knew, Bishop."

"I think I can offer the answers you seek, Scott." The two mutants turned around, startled by the sudden resounding of another voice in the corridor that they almost attacked. But stopped in time. It was a familiar face. There was basically no one on earth in the super-humans community who didn't know his face. The face of the sorcerer supreme. "I suppose you're still on edge. It's understandable."

"Stephen. Yes. That and, I usually expect people who teleport to at least make a single sound."

"Power isn't always showed in flashy ways, Scott. You should know that." Stephen then turned to Bishop and acknowledged him with a nod of his head. After that, he turned to the opened door of the room where Naruto was sleeping. "That's the boy…"

"Yes. I suppose that since you're here, you know more than us about him, Stephen." Strange slowly walked into the room and to the boy's bed, followed right after by the two X-Men. His hand suddenly got enveloped by a blue aura, and slowly started hovering it over the boy's body.

"Last night I was meditating, when a sudden disturbance in the balance of the cosmic forces troubled me. I focused and I found out you fighting this boy." Boy stopped the hand over Naruto's forehead, and kept it there for a few seconds before stopping. "I don't know how or why. That is something known to him only. But I do know that he has travelled trough space a great deal of distance. From another planet, or maybe from another dimension entirely."

"He could be like me? A mutant from an alternative future?" Stephen shook his head slowly.

"Space, Bishop. Not time." Stephen observed the sleeping form of the teen for a few seconds, before putting a hand on his right wrist. "And I felt the power controlling him… So malicious, evil… But so weak too, fortunately."

"… So weak?" Scott had to raise an eyebrow at that. Had to. Stephen just turned his head to him, smiling.

"Travelling like that can have drawbacks if you're not fully prepared, Scott. My guess is that the demon has been greatly weakened by their trip, paying all the 'travelling fees' for it. He couldn't bring out the power he should have had. The boy didn't get affected at all."

"…" Scott massaged his temples. He already could hear Bobby falling on his ass after hearing that. "You just didn't say that."

"I did. But do not worry. The demon will stay weakened for a certain period of time. But even weakened, if it should take over the boy like the last time… It would still be a problem." Strange's hands suddenly started glowing of an orange light, this time. It reminded Scott more of a fire, to tell the truth. He could hear Strange faintly chanting a spell. When he finished a last flash of light lightened the room. When he removed his hands from Naruto's wrist, said part of his body was now enveloped in what looked like a metallic wristband, full of inscriptions. "There. This will keep the demon under control." Stephen turned around… And then began to fade from the feet up, in front of the two X-Men. "Once he wakes up and he gets used to his surroundings… Tell him to search me out. That bracelet is just a temporary measure."

"We will, Stephen. And thanks for your help." Bishop nodded in acknowledgement as well, saluting the smiling Strange, disappearing in thin air. "… Now, to tell the others that we have yet another mutant from another planet or dimension."

"…" Bishop couldn't hold in a piece of dark humor. "Seems like the only way to get new mutants, nowadays."

* * *

"…" Sun. When he regained enough senses to allow him to perceive something able to wake, the first thing he felt was the hot rays of sun on his face. He slowly blinked and covered his face instinctively. Needed a bit to get used to that… He slowly opened them… And found out that he wasn't familiar with his surroundings. Since when were his cushion and bed so soft and big? And since when was the ceiling of his house made out of Mahogany? "What…"

He sat in his bed. Indeed, he wasn't in his home anymore. He got out of his bed and placed his feet on the ground. More lucent wood. And the glasses… He was starting to doubt he was even in Konoha anymore. Well, the bridge where they met Orochimaru was on the border between… It all came back full force.

"Oh, no!" He turned his head from side to side. There was no one of his team nearby. "Sakura-chan! Yamato-taichou! Penis fr… Ehm, Sai!" Nothing. No response. But he could hear activity in the nearby. The window. Of course. He opened it… And he started to suspect that he wasn't anywhere near the Elemental Countries anymore. He didn't recognize anything of what he saw at the horizon. Buildings, forests… Nothing. He lowered a little more his gaze. There seemed to be some kind of metal dump, near there. A lot of machines were working on tons of metal scrapes… Wait. They were taking them away, not dumping them there. He scratched the top of his head. "Where…"

"Watch out! Here comes the big one!"

"What?" Naruto lowered his head some more, looking below his window. There were people, dressed in strange ways. His attention had been gathered by a… Stone giant? Who was playing soccer with other people around his age… Hey, how come that one looked like a lizard? And the other one had golden skin? What the… Well, there was that Akatsuki guy who looked like a shark, after all… Well, they seemed to have fun… At least, wherever he was, it wasn't a bad place… Shit. Incoming ball. "Ouch!" Hit square in the face. Losing balance. Falling.

"Where… Whoops!"

"Hey, that guy is…" Thump. And Elixir cringed for him. "Falling."

"Hey, man, are you okay?" Victor approached the fallen blonde. Good thing it was just the second floor… Just the second floor? What the hell was he thinking. The guy could have hurt himself for good.

"Ahiahiahi…" The reptilian mutant blinked. Guess he was wrong, even if he had landed on his head. The guy got in a sitting position, and the only thing wrong about him was the fact that he was in boxers and a t-shirt. He was rubbing the sore spot on his head, then turned to them. "Watch where you throw that thing…"

"…" The trio frowned. They weren't expecting that. "He's talking Japanese."

"Hey! But he's the guy of two days ago!" The stone giant had approached him as well. "Oh yeah, man. I recognize those whiskers! He's the possessed guy!"

"Really? So he woke up." Anole was observing Naruto with curious eyes. Santo and Josh had told them about that night of a week before, but from how he talked about him… "I thought he would have been more… Frightening, you know."

"Ehm… I can't understand a word you're saying." Naruto grinned sheepishly. Indeed, nowhere near the elemental countries. He then noticed he was quite cold. He lowered his gaze… And almost blanked. This didn't go unnoticed by the young mutants.

"_Mierda_. I think he has noticed that someone got him out of his clothes while he was asleep. Underwear included."

"…" Naruto's eyes narrowed. "I don't know if you understand, but I don't really care. You have two minutes to explain why I'm not wearing my own underwear."

"Children, I… Oh." Everyone turned to the source of the new voice. Mainly the Beast, Hank McCoy. "It seems that our guest is now awake. But why is he on the ground like that?"

"…" Like they suddenly got an instinctive understanding of Japanese, the three young mutants immediately pointed to Hank with one arm while looking at him with their faces. "He insisted."

"…" Hell broke loose.

* * *

"That was quite a crazy discover, right, mister Logan?"

"What do you think, kiddo? I just discovered my own son is alive but brainwashed by… Hrrr." Logan, even after joining the X-Men, often went on missions on his own, taking care of personal matters… Someone could ask why he kept on coming back to the X-Mansion if he managed to get through mostly everything on his own. Thing is, he liked it there. He needed it. Sometimes, he just needed something more normal, or at least something that didn't involve blood and carnage. That didn't involve his usual modus operandi. "Thanks again for the help. I was surprised to see Cap there as well, I must say."

"… He believed Nuke was a failed Captain America. You heard him." Scott summers, in the meanwhile, still was a bit dazed by Wolverine's last action. He had given him a sword. But not just any sword. According to his words, it was one of the few things in the world able to kill him. The Murasama. And he had asked him to use it to kill him in case he got controlled again like it had happened before. Knowing that a guy you have fought with so much on so many things trusts you enough to entrust you his life… Well, it has to weird you out. Especially if you have that same trust in him but you would prefer to be tortured than admitting it.

"Hmmm…" Wolverine scratched the back of his head while walking trough the main gate and the front garden of the X-Mansion. "I'll tell you what, slim. Once in a while it's nice to get back here. Just the school, the students…"

"I can understand mister McCoy, but why us as well?"

"I suppose he believes we helped him or something."

"Hey! Give that back! I need that arm!"

"Remember, children. It isn't his fault. He doesn't understand us and he believes a furry took him out of his clothes while he was asleep to take advantage of him."

"What did you do to me?! Where is my team?!"

"…" Wolverine slowly turned his head to the right and observed the mayhem coming from the back courtyard. The one with the basket court. "And an army of blonde kids in boxers and t-shirts chasing Hank and three of our students?"

"…" Cyclops barely held his laughter in, unlike Emma and Hellion who right out chuckled and laughed out loud, respectively. He immediately focused back on the problem at hand. "Wolverine, remember about the possessed boy I talked you about?"

"…" He turned his head back to Scott. "That's… Or better, those are him?"

"Yeah… Maybe that's his mutant power."

"… Kid, my bag."

"Whoops!" Hellion barely managed to catch the bag. With his arms, mind you. Scott raised an eyebrow when he heard the familiar 'Snikt' that meant Wolverine's claws appearing. But he had just had a line of thought about trust with the man, so, he decided to wait.

The X-Man rushed at one of the orange boys and clawed right trough him. And it seemed like Wolverine had found out something, since the boy he had hit just burst in a cloud of smoke. The short Canadian kept his rampage. And the real Naruto started to notice this when the smoke became so much that he couldn't see on his right side anymore.

"Eh? What the… !!" His eyes were barely keeping track with whatever was doing that. Something was running around destroying his clones. He had just jumped high in the air and the last one had been destroyed right after he landed. "What the hell is happening?"

"Nice trick with the clones. But they don't shield you completely since unlike the original, they have no scent."

"!! What the…" Before he could even react, someone was talking in his language in his right ear, and he felt something cold and sharp against his neck. He slowly lowered his gaze… They were claws. Claws coming out from a man's hand. The man who was holding him in place.

"Now I let you go and you calm down. I'm sure this is all a big misunderstanding because no one could understand you and you couldn't understand anyone, correct?" Naruto just nodded while sweating bullets. Logan smirked and let him go. Naruto fell on his hands to the ground, starting to sweat like a fountain. "Hey. Did Madrox have an affair with a blonde Japanese woman 16 years ago or what?"

"…" _Where the hell am I?_

* * *

After a few minutes of talking and a pair of trousers and a good cup of tea, Emma, Scott and Wolverine were talking with Naruto in the headmaster's office. Wolverine had been appointed to be Naruto's interpreter, even if it was evident that the poor boy was scared shitless just by him standing there. But that was quickly forgotten after they had introduced themselves and told him the circumstances of his apparition. Naruto's face showed confusion for one minute. Then, he groaned. That was what had happened.

"I seriously fucked up…"

"He said he seriously fucked something up." Immediately translated Wolverine. Scott nodded.

"Now, tell him about Emma's powers and how it would safe us lots of time." Wolverine turned to Naruto.

"You see boy, don't know if you've noticed, but we're not exactly normal people, here." Naruto shivered while getting his head back up to look at Wolverine. His face clearly said 'No shit, man'. Referring to Wolvie, of course. "Well, see Emma, the hot blond chick behind me?" The blonde boy blinked and moved his head… Well, it was hard to not miss her. He blushed and just nodded. "Well, she's a telepath. That means, she can enter your mind and do things to it. She was her who stopped whatever was possessing you."

"For real?" Naruto blinked. She stopped him? Just like that? His mouth opened in a 'Wow' and he then grinned and waved to her. "Thanks, nee-chan!"

"He said thanks for stopping him." Emma waved back slowly, smiling faintly. Then she stopped when he saw him blank. This didn't go unnoticed by Scott nor Wolverine either. "What is it, kiddo?"

"S-She saw… It? Do you know?" He said, his voice barely more than a whisper.

"You mean about… The fox, right? I haven't personally, but she did." Naruto understood… And he just had to ask.

"And… She's not scared?" Wolverine blinked, then translated it to the others… And the trio shared a laugh, who more who less. Naruto felt suddenly stupid.

"H-Hey! What's so funny?!"

"We've seen scarier things than an overgrown furball possessing a boy in his puberty, blondie. And we're not talking about just monsters." Naruto blinked. They… He shivered. He didn't really want to know what they had seen in their life, then. Logan snickered and then put a hand on his head. He was probably getting emotional because of the recent news he got on his son. "But if it upsets you, I can assure you that whatever will be shared in this room will be kept between the four of us."

"…" Naruto knew that you shouldn't probably trust someone who was holding sharp looking claws to your neck, but… He just felt like he could. He nodded.

"Good. Now, as I was saying, Emma can do things to your mind. Like, she can make you learn our language in the arc of a second, and she can make so that we get some of your memories. The one pertinent to the place you come from, precisely. And your name and age. But, we need your approval to do that. The alternative is, you would have to study."

Naruto's reaction was awe to what he had just heard and then disgust at just the mentioning of the word 'study'. "Like hell I'm going to study."

"He agrees."

"Good. I swear, I was getting tired of hearing you two talk like two freaking anime characters." Emma concentrated and put her hands to her temples. Suddenly, a blue light flashed around the heads of everyone in the room. Naruto let out a 'Ack!' for the surprise of the sensation. The others were more or less used to it. It was a really strange sensation. Like someone had put a vacuum in his head. And then turned it in the other direction. All in the arc of a few seconds. He held his head, feeling it slightly light… But somewhat, heavier than before.

"Woah… That was the freakiest… Wait…" Naruto blinked. He noticed he wasn't talking like he usually did. "I… Wow! I can really talk like you do!"

"Indeed you can. Now, I think that another visit to the infirmary is a must. But before that…" Scott pointed to the chair behind. Naruto turned around. On the chair were a pair of shoes, another t-shirt, a red one. And he found out that he knew those kind of shoes were called sneakers and how to tie them. He also found out that the pants he was wearing were made out of a material called jeans. But what caught his attention were the other two objects on the chair.

"My weapon pouches!"

"Those were the only things that were left unscathed of your clothes, apart your sandals. But those were ruined out of their own. Now put those clothes on."

"Yes, ma'am." Naruto proceeded to do as told, throwing away the t-shirt he had wore in the night. In the meanwhile, Scott and Logan shot Emma a look that said 'You got a lot more information out of him than what you promised'. That meant that the tour of the mansion and explaining of its purpose would be Logan's pleasure.

Naruto put on the new t-shirt and the sneakers, and then proceeded to put his weapon pouch back in place. It took him a bit to find the right place. He didn't have any bandages to put one on his left leg, so he decided to put both of them attached to his belt, one on each side. Left and right. Then… He noticed that there was another thing he had not noticed that he was wearing. It was a bracelet. A bracelet that covered half of his forearm, made out of nine smaller ones. Each one had red runes inscribed on it. And… There wasn't trace of an opening How were you supposed to put it off? But… Well, it was like it wasn't there, actually. He shrugged it off. "I'm done!"

"Good. Then, let's go. Hank wants to check on you, and we'll take time to make you see the school, kiddo."

"Eh? This is a school? Oh, nooooo…" Logan pushed him out of the door, leaving the headmaster and headmistress alone in the same room. Silence reigned till Scott decided to talk first.

"So… We've got a ninja mutant from another planet or maybe dimension with the most powerful demon of his world sealed in his belly."

"…" Emma sighed and let herself fall into her comfy, big chair. "Just great. We just needed another problematic student… We didn't have enough problems as it already was. The M-Day, the students, Charles suddenly decided to take off for space…"

"…" Scott shook his head. "You aren't looking at this from the right point of view, are you?"

"…" Emma raised an eyebrow. "And what is that point of view?"

"Look through the boy's memories you've so gently copied. And you'll understand."

* * *

"First, boy, a little history. On what we are, basically." Naruto didn't voice anything, trying to listen to Logan while looking around at his surroundings. "You see, in this world there are basically two races. Humans, homo sapiens. Normal people who can't do much out of the ordinary unless they get in some incident involving genetics, cosmic power or such."

"… Oooook." Logan understood that the boy had just refrained himself from asking what the hell were 'genetics' and 'cosmic power'. He continued.

"And the other race… Us. Mutants. Homo superior." Naruto turned his attention fully to Wolverine. "By book, we are individuals who possess a genetic trait called an X-gene that allows us to naturally develop superhuman powers and abilities. In other words, each mutant has a different superpower. Like Emma you've seen before. She's a telepath."

"Ohhh…" Naruto began to understand. So, that lizard-guy, the golden-guy and the rocky-guy had superpowers as well… He then turned to Logan. "What about you? What's your superpower?"

"Me? Oh, well.." Snikt. Wolverine took out three of his claws again, freaking Naruto out. Again. "I have retractable claws, and an healing factor. Just like you."

"Healing… What?"

"I heal fast."

"Ahhh…" Wolverine shook his head and slowly pulled his claws back in, and Naruto stared sickly all the time, while the muscles and skin reformed. Then, he noticed something. "Wait… You also have bones made out of metal?"

"…" Wolverine didn't react. He was expecting that question. "No. They've just been coated with it. Long story."

"Ah, alright. I still think that it's pretty cool. You must be pretty strong, hn?" He said, grinning while crossing his arms behind his head. Wolverine snickered.

"Indeed. But let's focus on the lesson. But you see… Since we have powers that let us do… Stuff, lots of people fear us and hate us."

"…" Naruto was surprised by that. How could such cool people be feared or hated? And then… He smiled sadly. Wasn't that familiar? "Do they, now…"

"… Seems you know the feeling."

"Long story." He just replied. Wolverine smirked. Seems like the kid learned fast enough.

"Alright. Well, basically… This was a real school, before. When we were millions. But recently, something happened that turned most of the mutants in the world in simple humans. Right now… This is probably more of a refuge than anything else. But we still like to think of it as a school." Logan stopped, so that he could get Naruto to observe the floor below. "This is the main building. On the first floor there are classrooms, faculty offices and the ballroom that also serves as… Ehm, a room for assemblies."

"Gotcha… Hey!" Wolverine suddenly jumped down from the first floor to the one below. He wanted to see if what he had seen in the boy's memories was true. It indeed was true, since the boy followed him right after, landing maybe in a lighter way than him. "Tell me before you jump!"

"And where would be the fun in that? Come on, we have more to see. Like the cafeteria."

"Hey. It seems the guy finished talking with the teachers." Naruto's appearance didn't go unnoticed by the people who had already seen it, at least once. In this case, Hellion and Cessily. "Nice jump he did. Maybe that's his mutant power?"

"Mhhh…" Mercury was more observant, though. "Mister Logan is showing him around the mansion. Think he will stay here?"

"If he's a mutant, they probably will ask him to." Julian snorted. He found funny the image of mister Summers kissing the boy's feet. "I mean… From what I've heard, the world is suddenly on a shortage of mutants. And most of the students are going away in a few days, I've heard."

"…" Cessily didn't say anything. And Julian felt like an ass. He should have known better. After all, Cessily would have preferred to not be in that shortage. Her, like many, would have preferred to just lose her powers. Going back to be a normal girl, a cheer-leader too, maybe… Get a boyfriend and such. He couldn't say he understood how she felt cause he loved his superpowers, but her…

"Sorry…"

"… It's okay. I'm sure that I will find someone who likes girls made out of shiny metal, one day…"

* * *

"You sure we can't visit the girl's dormitory? Absolutely positively sure?"

"If you want to keep your head on your shoulders. And I wouldn't be the one doing the cutting." Naruto emitted a 'eep' of disapproval while instinctively bringing a hand to his neck. "On the second floor is the Gym and Faculty housing. Now we go to…" Wolverine stopped in front of a door and put his right index finger to a red button on its side. "The hot stuff."

"Eh?" The door opened and Naruto peeked inside. The surroundings had really changed and it was just a set of stairs. Wolverine pushed him inside, and he slowly walked down the stairs. There was a lot more of metal on that level. It got even more technological by the minute. "Wow… What is this place?"

"This is where most of the things that we grown ups use. We're a team of superheroes, basically. The name's X-Men." Wolverine slowed down in front of a pretty big door. "That thing is called Cerebra. It's a mutant detection system. It can locate any mutant, anywhere."

"Nice… And that other door down there?"

"That is called the Danger Room. It's basically a super technological training room. It can materialize and simulate like, any enemy. And it's quite realistic. I wouldn't suggest entering the place without someone checking on you from above."

"Gotcha. Danger Room."

"Good. I think that wraps up most of the tour. So, now, to the infirmary. The furry is waiting for us."

* * *

"Hmmm…"

"… Something's wrong?" It had been like five minutes since Hank had started staring at the monitor of his machine. He hadn't moved much, apart for pushing some buttons and such. And it was freaking poor Naruto out.

"Well… It's strange." Finally, a reaction. He pushed one button and the thing flashing blue light over his body finally was moved, letting Naruto sit. Hank then turned to Naruto. "You see, boy… Naruto, was it?" Naruto nodded. "Well, this machine lets us check if the X-Gene exists in a being, basically lets us find out if you're a mutant. Last night, it gave a positive reading."

"Eh?! I'm a Mutant?! Cool!" Juvenile enthusiasm. Hank smiled. "I have a superpower, then?! Cooooool!"

"Well… As I was saying, it's complicated." Naruto blinked at that. The X-Man with blue hair polished his glasses. "You see… The machine… It lags. Sometimes it gives you as a mutant, sometimes it gives you as No Reading."

"No… Reading?"

"Basically…" The beast put his glasses back in place, taking a dramatic pause in his talking. "It doesn't read you as nothing. Not as a human, not as mutant… Nothing."

"…" Naruto thought about it… And then dropped his head to one side, confused. "But… I'm not nothing."

"Indeed you are not. I firmly believe that you are a mutant. So, Naruto…" Hank sat on a stool in front of his bed. "What is your power? What can you do out of the ordinary?"

"Uh? Well… I'm a ninja."

"Intriguing. But that's a profession, not a power."

"B-But ninja can do… One moment, see here!" Naruto did a hand-seal and started to gather a big amount of chakra at his feet. Hank noticed it when said appendage became enveloped in light blue energy. "See?! This is chakra!"

"Chakra…" He had read some books on the argument, but he couldn't know. After all, he came from another world. "And what exactly is chakra?"

"Chakra? Well, it's… Hmmm…" Naruto had to focus to remember. Damn lessons. "Basically… Let's say that it's our… Life energy? Like, we make it from the energy of our body that is natural and from the energy we grow with training. I say it's life energy because if I use it all up, I die."

"Life energy. I see. And how can you use it?"

"Well, like this, first." He dangled his still blue-covered feet in front of him. "I mean, I send chakra to parts of my body to make them stronger. Like, now, with this feet, I could probably crush that wall."

"I see… Any other uses?" Naruto nodded and his feet went back to normal.

"Techniques! Ninja techniques! Like, I gather chakra in some places, depending on the technique, then I do hand-seals, like, to tell the chakra what to do."

"Hmmm…" Hank tilted his glasses with one of his fingers. "I see that words aren't your forte. Mind for a demonstration, then?"

"Of course! Check this out! It's the transformation technique!" Naruto gathered chakra and did a single hand-seal. Hank was surprised when he saw the boy get enveloped in smoke… And he was even more surprised when he saw a perfect copy of himself coming out of the smoke. "Neat, hn?" Even the voice was identical.

"Really… Intriguing." Hank adjusted his glasses one more time, instinctively. "So, this is your mutant power, I suppose. Energy manipulation."

"Eh? But…" Naruto dropped his transformation before continuing. "It's not big deal. I mean, there are a lot of ninjas in my world. Everyone can do these kind of things."

"Well… Then, I suppose that… Everyone in your world is a mutant, Naruto."

"Eh?" Naruto blinked, confused even more. Everyone in his… And then he frowned. "Aw, shucks. And here I thought I was going to have some cool superpower, like, getting my arms bigger or something like that…"

"Ahahahah. I assure you that your kind of power is very useful. And…" Hank took another one of his dramatic pause. "There's the possibility that everyone in your world doesn't know how to use it fully."

"Hn? What do you mean?" Naruto blinked. Hank chuckled.

"Like, for an example, are you able to use someone's else chakra? Like, if they pass it to you?"

"I…" Naruto thought about it a little… He remembered when the old Chiyo needed chakra to revive Gaara. It had been him who lent her his own chakra. "Yes, I can, now that I think about it!"

"And… Are you able to transform like… Chakra in other kinds of energy? Like, thermal energy, for an example?"

"Ehm… Well… Maybe you mean… I mean, we have techniques that make us breath fire and water, and lightning…"

"That's what I thought." Hank got back on his feet, and Naruto did the same. "You see, Naruto… I think that you and your friends barely scratched the potential of your ability. Manipulating and morphing energy is a pretty powerful ability, if used well." _Even if I don't understand why the need of those… Handseals._

"Really? I…" Naruto observed his hands, like he had just discovered that he had a big patch of hair on his palms. If he really could do more than using techniques… He raised his head. "Can you teach me? How to do it better, I mean."

"Boy, we're in a school. We live to teach." Hank chuckled when he saw the blonde boy close his hands in two punches, whispering a barely audible 'Yes'. He placed a furry hand on his shoulders and motioned him to the door. "Now, I think it's time that Logan showed you to your room and then to the cafeteria once more. It's almost lunch time. And I'm pretty sure I didn't growl, in the last minutes."

"Ehm… Eheheheh." Naruto rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment. "Thanks, doc."

"Of nothing. Now, go."

Naruto turned the doorknob and opened the door, closing it right behind him… Just to find out that Logan was nowhere in sight. He could hear his voice, though. From behind an angle.

"… lot scarier and the kids at this school need you. And more importantly, you need them!"

_He seems a little angry. He's talking with someone?_ Naruto peeked behind the angle, just to find out that he wasn't talking with anyone. Or better, he was talking over some kind of device.

"The only chance you have is here, Laura. If you don't come back, you're already dead. Trust me, just come… Laura? Laura!" Logan snorted. "She hung up…" He then turned in Naruto's direction, scaring the blonde boy for like the fifth time that day. He knew he was standing there? "Hey, come on. Lunch is about ready."

"Ehm… Problems?" Naruto slowly approached the mutant, who just sighed in annoyance.

"Sisters. Have one?"

"Nope. To tell the truth, I don't have a single living relative." Logan turned to him with a face that showed confusion. He had just told it like he was reading a list of things to buy at the grocer. Like he would tell it. Naruto noticed it. "What?"

"… Nothing." _Seems like Emma didn't copy everything… And here I expected to have his whole life in my mind._

* * *

"All that food… But no ramen…"

"You're the first person that loves a kind of food so much to actually cry about it, kiddo."

"Oh, well. At least the roastbeef is good… Oh, darn. Again." The thing that had freaked Naruto out the most to that moment was that he kept on knowing things and things about things without having ever seen them in his life, thanks to the telepathic thing that Emma had done to him. "I still can't get used to it."

"It's always the same, the first time someone messes with your head." Logan ate his sushi in relative silence, as in, when Naruto didn't give him things to talk about. Good thing they were almost done. And he just couldn't understand how the hell the boy had managed to keep with his eating speed, when he had eaten twice his amount of food. No matter. Last piece of sushi, last onigiri. Done. "Well, now I have to leave you. Things to do, people to see. You do remember the way to your room, right? Otherwise, you can just ask."

"Alright." Naruto got up from his seat and stretched his arms and back. Then, something occurred to him. "Hey, wait a minute. Why the hell am I settling down here?!"

"…" Wolverine snorted a laugh. "You're not as dense as I believed you to be, then."

"This is no joke!" Naruto slammed his hands on the table. "I mean, you didn't tell me how I ended up here nor… I mean, how do I get back?! I was in the middle of a battle, and I have things to do, back home."

"… Eh." Wolverine then saw trough Emma's and Scott's scheme. They had placed on his shoulders the duty of dropping the bomb on the boy. "How do I get back? We frankly have no idea, kiddo. We travelled trough time, but other dimensions… Never willingly. And we don't know much about it."

"… Other… Dimensions?" Naruto calmed down hearing that. Wolverine turned around.

"You came from another planet or another dimension. That's as much as we know. But don't worry. There's a person who knows more and wants to talk with you." Too much information in too little time. Naruto's brain was fuming. In the meanwhile Logan was just walking away. "But you'll have to wait till tomorrow or the day after. For the time being, feel free to do anything you want as long as you don't get on anybody's nerves. See you later."

"H-Hey!" Logan didn't turn around nor did he bother to say anything else to him. Naruto stood there for a few seconds then groaned. He then took his tray and put with the other used ones on the metallic trolley. He got out of the cafeteria and in the back garden. He looked around. There were a lot of people. Some were even looking and pointing at him. According to what Logan had told him, most of them were now… Normal people. He scratched the top of his head. "I wonder what the hell could have made mill…"

He didn't get to finish that sentence because something suddenly hit him square in the face. A big ass punch that hit him in the face and sent him flying for a couple of meters. He regained a bit of momentum and managed to land on his feet, though, one hand on the ground. "What the…" He observed the… Punch? It was just a punch made out of rock, floating in the air? It then floated back… To the rest of the body. It was one of the guys he had seen that morning. The rocky one.

"He didn't dodge it, but at least he didn't fall on his butt!" He said. Naruto gritted his teeth and massaged his face. It hurt.

"What the hell was that for?!"

"That would have been my idea, sorry." He then noticed that beside the rock giant there was another guy around his age. "I just wanted to see how strong you were without being possessed, you know. Seems like you're nothing special, though."

"…" That pissed Naruto off. If there is one bad thing that you can say about Naruto is that you can enrage him pretty easily. "Want a fight?! Then bring it on you… Spandex freak! And rock boy, both of you!"

"Eh?" Santo scratched the back of his head. "Julian, seems like he wants to take on the both of us."

"Seems like it. Oh, well…" A small crowd was starting to gather around them. And Julian's eyes became white and he started to hover half a meter over the ground, signalling the activation of his powers. "If he got a death wish, who are we to deny it?"

"…" In the meanwhile, a teacher was observing everything. And when seeing something like that, it's usually a teacher's duty to stop it before it gets worse. But this particular teacher… Not, this particular headmistress decided to let the children do their thing. It would be a good occasion to observe the new-comer's behaviour.

_Continue…_

_In the next chapter…_

Naruto gets into his first fight against superpowered individuals. What will be the outcome? And will Naruto get used to the students and viceversa? Stay tuned!


	2. Special I

Special#1

**Special#1**

**List of Marvel Characters**** in order of appearance**

**Note:** This is just a list of names and superpowers, leaving alone other skills possessed by the characters. An example. Wolverine. I'll write here that his powers are high speed regeneration and retractable claws and so on, but these are things that come from his body. Skills are for example that Wolverine is trained in martial arts, assassination techniques, usage of various high-tech machines, etc… Things that he has learned. Writing each of them for each character would take too long.

**Note2: **If you want to know more about the Marvel characters, you can search for their names and/or aliases on Wikipedia or the Marvel Wiki or even better on the Marvel Official Site. I suggest the Marvel Wiki.

**Name: **Scott Summers (Cyclops)

**Affiliations: **X-Men

**Powers:** Optic energy beams

**Name: **Henry Philip "Hank" McCoy (Beast)

**Affiliations: **X-Men

**Powers:** Animal-like physiology  
Superhuman strength, speed, stamina, agility, flexibility, reflexes, coordination, balance, endurance  
Genius level intelligence  
Accelerated healing factor  
Pheromone manipulation, razor sharp claws and teeth

**Name: **Robert Louis "Bobby" Drake (Iceman)

**Affiliations: **X-Men

**Powers:** Ice manipulation  
Thermal vision  
Superhuman strength and durability beyond human norms

**Name: **Piotr Nikolaievitch Rasputin (Colossus)

**Affiliations: **X-Men

**Powers:** Ability to transform his body into "organic steel" granting him superhuman strength, stamina, and durability

**Name: **Katherine "Kitty" Pryde (Shadowcat)

**Affiliations: **X-Men

**Powers:** Intangibility

**Name:** Emma Grace Frost (White Queen)

**Affiliations: **X-Men

**Powers:** Telepathy  
Indestructible diamond form

**Name:** Santo Vaccarro (Rockslide)

**Affiliations: **X-Men

**Powers:** Psionic entity capable of forming a "golem" form by assimilating surrounding rock and earth into a gestalt shell, adopting the properties of the matter used. Can explosively detonate the shell and reform at will. Super strength, durability, and endurance seem to appear in any form.

**Name: **Joshua "Josh" Foley (Elixir)

**Affiliations: **X-Men

**Powers:** Biological manipulation

**Name: **The Stepford Cuckoos (Celeste, Mindee, Phoebe)

**Affiliations: **X-Men

**Powers:** Telepathic hive-like supermind, flawless diamond form impervious to destruction or emotion.

**Name:** Noriko "Nori" Assida (Surge)

**Affiliations: **X-Men

**Powers:** Electrical generation and manipulation

Superhuman speed

**Name:** David Alleyne (Prodigy)

**Affiliations: **X-Men

**Powers:** Possesses the combined knowledge of every mind he has encountered up to M-Day, including the X-Men

Formerly: the ability to mimic the knowledge possessed by others

**Name: **Julian Keller (Hellion)

**Affiliations: **X-Men

**Powers:** Telekinesis

**Special Discussion**

Alright. This is because of a matter that a couple of reviewers notified. I say that I have to talk about this in the story because other people may or may not share similar thoughts, but it's always nice to make constructive talk.

Basically, the basic of their argument is that I have nerfed Naruto or made him OOC to make Marvel characters stand a chance against him. I say before anything else, that I hate nerfing. That's what Kishimoto has done to Naruto and most of all the Kyuubi. He was the most powerful demon existent? Reduced to plot device under the control of the Uchiha, who underwent the opposite process: senseless overpowering. But let's not dwell on that. Let's focus on the argument. I'll copy here parts of the reviews and my replies on the matter, focusing on the X-men, mostly.

**Ninja can move instantly...some of them****, others so fast you can't see.**

Okay, first off ninja CAN'T move instantly. They are just very fast. But THE X-MEN ARE USED TO FIGHTING A MUTANT WHO CAN MOVE AT MACH FREAKING 5.

Even Gates Lee is basically moving slow as molasses compared to Quicksilver. And the X-Men have learned how to disable him anyway. And that's old Quicksilver - the new one is so fast he can travel through fucking TIME ITSELF.

I don't know if that gets the point across. FAST ENOUGH TO TRAVEL THROUGH TIME.

If you use DC's Flash as an example, it means Pietro with the Terrigen Mists powerup has become capable of several-times-lightspeed movement.

**They  
can bend the elements to their very wills and harness the power of demons.**

**And for Naruto...he has a lot of fighting experience and while not very  
strong he is used to fighting people far far outside his skill level and using  
the basics and ingenious spur of the moment tactics to beat people far far  
stronger and smarter than him.  
**

Newsflash: so do the X-Men, and most Marvel characters. Squirrel Girl is one name that pretty much drives the point home - Naruto is a rank amateur at David vs. Goliath compared to Squirrel Girl.

And yes, Squirrel Girl is a mutant. You do the math...

**  
Naruto could beat Cyclops hand down with his prankster heart and ninja  
abilities he could simply Kawarimi to avoid the optic blasts and get close and  
he wins as Cyclops is a normal human basically when it comes to his body other  
than the blasts and any normal human pales in comparison to a ninja especially  
one with Naruto's stamina and endurance, one chakra enhanced punch to the  
stomach and Cyclops is out like a light. And with superior speed and battle  
experience he'd be able to take out any of the new Xmen without a significant  
advantage or power with just Kawarimi and Kage Bunshin. Also with how you  
mentioned the summoning him thing and dimensions then he could still summon  
toads. **

Cyclops has been involved in mortal combat for more than twice the amount of time Naruto has. He's got a whole lot more battle experience, and his opponents generally try to kill him dead, so you can't even claim that they are going easy on him.

Superior battle experience my sweet Italian ass.

Also, please do note that Cyclops can generally put up a hell of a fight in training against Wolverine, and the Danger Room puts the team through the wringer with Sentinels, replica of old enemies and even a Galactus simulator.

Cyclops is far, far more used to being outmatched than Naruto, and more importantly, he DOES NOT UNDERESTIMATE ANY OPPONENT, which is something Naruto does all the fucking time. And against a trained X-Man, botching the first attack means you get knocked unconscious, end of story.

I'm not even deigning the prankster heart bit of a reply. If Cyclops can see through a telepath's trickery, he can see through Naruto's retarded attempts at strategy.

**Also your Naruto seems highly out of character acting like it's no big deal.  
When he would likely be panicking and angry, his team is likely dead, as he  
didn't hurt Orochimaru to much and Orochimaru would easily take out the  
distraught Sakura, and Yamato who is no macth for him anyways let alone with  
the thought of how Tsunade would kill him for losing her apprentice and more  
importantly her surrogate little brother. So Naruto should be depressed and  
bordering on Emo because of the high chance of his team being dead.**

Yes, because Naruto being depressed is totally IC. But the problem is, they have explained to him that they don't know exactly where or how he came from, but they promised him help on the matter as soon as possible. On top of that, with all the new and cool things around, with Naruto who gets excited about new things like a child, a distraction from supposed "emo-tendencies" is more than explained.

Now, the second reviewers made more or less the same pointers, but… There's one thing that he said that I must copy here. In the review he said that Naruto should outclass everyone he runs into. I replied: "Outclass everyone he runs across? Are you out of your mind? You don't read Marvel much, do you?". His reply was…

**Sure I do and most of the characters are one trick ponies. Wolverine doesn't  
come close to the speed, strength, healing factor of Naruto. You seem to have  
skipped actually reading Naruto. Wolverine should have found himself holding a  
log with a 'Thousand Year of Pain' nailing him in the .**

… Ok. Now, please, you have to allow me to be a little vulgar. Are you out of your F--ING MIND?!

Healing factor wise, Wolverine owns Naruto so bad it ain't funny. Got shot in the heart twice, in the brain twice, survived direct exposure to the fucking SUN'S CORONA, regenerated from atmospheric reentry, do I need to go on?

Also, last time Wolverine and Quicksilver (yes, him still) met, Quicksilver tried the 'run behind him at ultrasonic speed and attack' bit and damn near lost his head because Wolverine's reflexes are something right out of the most retarded shounen anime you'll see. I'm talking 'dodge machinegun fire and laser fire' reflexes, not 'dodge kunai' level reflexes.

LASER FIRE. Take a minute to think about it. Where every other X-Man scrambles for cover, Logan DODGES it.

Naruto would Kawarimi, ATTEMPT a Thousand Years of Pain and fucking find himself minus several fingers or maybe one whole hand, because I doubt Wolverine would be amused by a dude going anywhere near his ass. And he's known to teach by example - he cut Toad's tongue off to warn him to never use it on him again, because he had no worries about it not regrowing (Toad can regen the tongue).


	3. Getting Started II

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto nor Marvel… MEINOS SMASH

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto nor Marvel… MEINOS SMASH.

Alrighty! It's-a me, Meinos! Ok, Mario channelling out of the way, seems like this story is well liked. I'm happy! Well, here you go. Second chapter. Enjoy!

**No Reading**

**Chapter2****:**** Adventures in New York**

"**So, you took care of it."**

"Indeed, Tony. I took care of it." Doctor Strange isn't a normal superhuman. The main difference is that his powers are not fruit of a mutation or incidents. No. They're mystical. Powers that come from years of study and meditation. Also, his being a superhuman. He's the sorcerer supreme, and his job is not to go around the world fighting, but to continuously train and scan the world, waiting for traces of problems that can be solved by him only. But his friends and allies know that he's always open to give help and advice when it comes to problems involving supernatural matters.

The point was, he rarely left the peace of his Sanctorum. And that was what Tony found strange. He had received the report of the incident at the Xavier institute. It clearly said that a creature had attacked the sentinels on guard and then proceeded to destroy them. It then engaged battle with the X-Men. The whereabouts of the creature were unknown though. The S.H.I.E.L.D. was about to send a team to investigate, when Stephen appeared right in front of Tony, telling him that he had personally taken care of the creature.

"**How, exactly? Care to tell me the details?"** Tony knew that Stephen was hiding something, though. He just had that feeling. He was one who had hid a lot of secrets, after all. Something he wasn't willing to tell. But while he trusted Stephen, he needed details to report something more than just 'Dr Strange took care of it' to the S.H.I.E.L.D..

"… To put it in simple words, it was a demon. The most powerful of the world it came from, apparently." Details that could also be source of further concern. "As a Sorcerer Supreme, you know that is my duty to take care of all these kinds of menaces."

"**How exactly did you take care of it?"**

"The demon had almost escaped the prison where it had been sealed." Tony would never get used to talking with the blue image of a man sitting cross-legged at midair. "I simply sealed him better than how it had been done before."

"**You couldn't destroy it?"** Tony needed to know the full power of the being that Stephen had supposedly face. And Stephen paused his speech for a brief second. An almost unnoticeable pause that made Tony understand that Stephen had to think about his words, in that moment.

"It's not that I couldn't, Tony… But I preferred not to mingle with something that wasn't in my direct control." Stark kept on observing the stoic face of the Sorcerer Supreme. "If it had been sealed somewhere… There was a reason. I preferred to not interfere with it."

"… **I understand."** Tony de-crossed his armour-covered arms. **"Then… You assure me it will be safe?"**

"I assure you the demon will not bother our reality anytime soon, Tony."

--

"Try not to finish him with the first shot, Julian. I want a piece of him too!"

"I know, I know…"

"!!" First round, first move. Naruto jumped out of the way to dodge two aquamarine-coloured rays projected by the hovering boy. And good thing that he dodged, since the two rays made some pretty deep furrows in the ground. He reacted immediately and took out two kunais from his right weapon pouch. "Let's see how hard you are!" And he threw at Santo before he even landed on the ground. Useless move. The two weapons just bounced off the mutant like ping pong balls.

"Hey, watch out with those things!" Santo brought both his arms forward, hands closed in two punches. "They itch! Ahahahah!" He did it again. He shot his arms forward. Naruto this time just did a quick side-jump.

"Nice trick! But if they only… !!" Naruto was about to say 'They can only move in a straight line'. Then, how the hell did one of the arms suddenly hit him in his back, making him flying forward? He landed on his hands and landed on one knee, holding his back with one hand. "What the hell…"

"You see, Telekinesis means basically one thing: moving objects with your mind." And Julian was demonstrating by holding Santo's two arms at his height. Both objects were enveloped by aquamarine light. "Every kind of object. Oh, and of course, blasts of telekinetic force. The ones you dodged before." Julian made the two arms hover back towards their rightful owner. They reattached immediately to the rest of the body. "One more time, Santo?"

"_Claro_! One at the time, now!" He said so and so he did. This time he shot forward just his right arm. Naruto dodged it by moving slightly to the left, but like before, Julian directed it back towards him. He took out a kunai and deviated it by pushing against it with it.

"Hmm… He deviated the blow with physical strength only? Guess I need to stop playing. Santo!"

"Left arm! Go!"

"Without talking like a mecha pilot, please." Whatever. The arm still shot forward. And when Naruto dodged, Julian moved forward the one he was still telekinetically holding. Faster than before, with added rotation.

"Oh, sh…" Naruto couldn't dodge this one at all. It hit him square in the chest, sending him rotating and flying for a few meters.

"He's down for the count, it… !" Julian noticed just barely something. Or better, a few somethings. A lot of somethings. Around ten shurikens that were flying towards him. He turned one of his eyes towards Naruto, and he found that even if he still hadn't landed on the ground, he was grinning. He returned his attention to the sharp objects. _When did he… I didn't even see him!_

Julian almost forgot that he was a telekinetic. He shot his hands forward and stopped the weapons… Well, except for one. He stopped it just after it had slashed him across his right cheek, drawing blood. He slowly moved down his gaze, and he noticed that… He had shrugged off his last attack as well, even if it had him straight in the chest.

"Nice trick, but…" Naruto cracked his neck. "You'll have to hit me a lot harder than that." _Who am I kidding? It was as strong as one of the punches I took from Sasuke three years ago…_ Naruto brought a hand to his chest.

"… Hey, loser."

"What?" Naruto grinned while looking back at the flying boy. He noticed that he was moving the shurikens he had thrown at him along with the two kunais from before.

"These are yours, I believe!"

"…" Julian threw the weapons back at Naruto making the sharp objects first hover towards the ground, then shot forwards towards Naruto at high speed. Naruto paled. "What the hell are you doing!" Naruto took out two kunais and then… Didn't move? Julian raised an eyebrow. He was expecting him to at least run, not stand his ground… And what happened right after shocked him even more.

Naruto used the kunai to deflect some of the kunais, using all his strength to counter the force of Julian's telekinesis. And then… He opened his arms… And he let the rest of the Shuriken hit him. "Argh!"

--

"What the…" Emma really didn't expect that. She had had a half idea of stopping the fight ever since the sharp weapons came into play… But what had just happened was plain being nuts. She quickly descended to the lower floor and ran into the courtyard.

--

"H-Hey! Are you okay?!" Julian and Santo had stopped using his powers and ran to the injured boy's sides.

"Been better… Ack!" Julian cringed when he saw the boy pull the weapons out of his body with deadly seriousness, and the things had sunk almost completely in his arms. He then shook his head.

"W-Why the hell didn't you move?! I wanted to give you a lesson, not… Kill you!"

"Because you need some time before you make the objects you control change direction. At that speed it means a few meters of space. Ngh." Another Shuriken out, and then he pointed behind him with his right thumb… At the crowd. "If I had moved out of the way… You would have hit them, idiot!"

"… I… I don't…" Julian looked behind the blonde boy and then realized… That he was right. He would have hit the other students. He placed a palm on his forehead. He had almost…

"Make way!" Emma had arrived just in time to hear that conversation. But even if that made her think, she acted unfazed. The priority was the boy's safety. She moved Julian out of the way and kneed. "Someone get Elixir!"

"Who? I need a medic, not… Eh?" Naruto noticed something strange… He was healing fast. The problem was… Too fast. He was healing so fast that… The Shuriken were being literally pushed out of his body by the reforming bones, muscles and layers of skin. In a few seconds… It was like he had never been cut. "…"

"…" Emma took a hold of his arm. Nothing. Not even a scratch anymore. She sighed. "If you had a healing factor, you could have just said so."

"B-But… I've never healed this fast."

"Eh? … What, you mean…" Emma helped the boy get back on his feet, staring at him like he had just grown a second head. "That at the moment you were convinced that you could have hurt yourself that much but you still didn't move out of the way?"

"Hey." Naruto frowned. It took that comment almost like an insult. "What was I supposed to do? Let the rain of metal from death hit other people? And after all, I'm the one who first decided to use them…"

"…" Emma shook her head. She couldn't choose a good adjective for the boy in front of her. "It's better if you go to the infirmary. But it seems that you've already forgotten the way there."

"I did?" Naruto tried to think about it… The woman was right. He sweatdropped. Mind-reading thing. "I did."

"I'll…" Julian was about to offer his help, but Emma raised a hand.

"Not you, Hellion. You've helped enough, today."

"Hey, guys. What happened here?"

"Perfect timing, miss Kincaid." Said girl stopped in mid step. Emma turned towards her. "I'd like if you brought mister Uzumaki to the infirmary. He doesn't remember the road."

"Mister who?" Cessily was confused. Then she looked at who Miss Frost was pointing with her right arm… The boy of the other night. "Ah! Yes, of course!"

"Good. Santo, Julian. We have to talk." While her two team-mates prepared for the scolding of their lives, Mercury waved a little to Naruto who just walked towards her still frowning a little. The girl observed him… And found herself confused.

"Why do you need to go to the infirmary? I don't see any injuries."

"… Long story."

--

"Boy, it's the first time someone comes to the infirmary two times in a day. And it's also the first time someone comes to see me while being perfectly fine."

"That's the problem! I don't know why! I always healed fast, but overnight! I never healed wounds like those in seconds!" _Except for that time, against Sasuke… But I was under the furball's influence!_ Naruto's arm was released by the blue furry's hands. Naruto yucked when he noticed that the T-shirt and jeans he was wearing had been dirtied by the blood he had lost. He would need another change. Good thing there were already some in the room Logan had showed him.

"Hmmm… Maybe it's another power coming from your mutation."

"Ehm, no, doc." Naruto shook his head and held his left arm with his right hand. "The source is… Another thing. But, the thing is, it's never been this… Efficient, apart in some cases."

"…" Hank observed the boy in front of him. He was probably referring to what had possessed him that night. He would have to ask Emma for more details. "Alright. Well, however, you're perfectly fine. You can go."

"Ah… Thanks, doc. I'll see you later…" Naruto stopped to think about it. "Scratch that. I hope to not ever see you again. At least not in here. See ya!" The Beast chuckled while the boy exited the room. Really a nice fellow.

--

"Ah, you were still waiting?" The first thing that Naruto noticed once out of the room was Cessily leaning with her back against the wall to the right of the infirmary's door. She immediately turned to him and started checking his figure out, startling the blonde a bit. "W-What is it?"

"You really don't have a scratch…" Mercury pulled her head back, a little sceptical. "And you really got hit with all those Shuriken? Wow. You must heal as fast as mister Logan." Then she frowned. "Good, sometimes Julian can be… What was he thinking? Or was he thinking at all?"

"Ehm, come on. It's not all his fault. I shouldn't have pulled out those weapons in the first place… His only fault was not paying attention."

"Still… He was the one who started it, right?"

"Ehm…" _This is awkward. Why the hell am I defending that guy?_ Option number one. Change the subject of the conversation. What interested him the most, those days around? Of course, mutants and powers. He observed the girl. Silver body. "Hey, how come you're all silver?"

"Ah… I mean… It's my mutant power." Cessily lowered her head and kicked the ground a bit with her left foot. "I'm made of… Mercury. Liquid metal."

"Liquid metal?" Naruto scratched his right cheek… And then poked her. Cessily was startled by the sudden gesture. "You're pretty smooth… But you look like pretty normal to me, colour apart. What good it is?"

"Eh? Normal?" That stranged her out. She looked pretty normal to him? What gives? She was a freaking walking thermometer, in a few words. "Well, it's because I choose to keep it solid. Normally, when people try to hit me, I shapeshift and turn… Liquid."

"Shapeshift?" Naruto blinked. Mercury just sighed. She then held out her right hand… And startled Naruto by suddenly morphing her right hand in a blade. She proved her accuracy by opening a little cut in his T-Shirt. She then morphed it again in a hand. Naruto was staring. Mercury felt a little sad, as usual. Even among mutants, she was a weirdo.

"That was what I…"

"THAT WAS SO COOL!"

"Eh?!" If Naruto had startled her before, now she had gotten downright scared. The boy had shouted so loud that she almost made her face lose cohesion. He had grabbed her right hand and started looking at it from every angle. "H-Hey! Stop! What are you doing?!"

"So cool! You can do it with every part of your body?!" Naruto tried to pull on one of the fingers to see if they lengthened, but the girl just snatched away her hand and turned around.

"You… Weirdo…" If it wasn't because she was of mercury, Cessily was pretty sure she would be blushing out of embarrassment. "What's so great about my body?"

"I just like it. You have a pretty cool power." For Naruto it was the first time he used his infamous grin in that place. But the effect was pretty much the same. Cessily observed him like he had lost his mind… Then she smiled. "You're really a bunch of interesting guys. Even the rock-head and the bakanetik are cool!" Cessily chuckled at the two nicknames the blonde had found for her two team-mates. Then, she saw him leaning his head to her ear. "Ehm… Don't tell them I've told you so…"

"My lips are sealed. But by the way, I don't think that a fight counts as an introduction, hn?" Naruto's face became quizzical again. The silver girl chuckled some more. "I mean, I can introduce you to the others, if you want. Like, this evening at dinner?"

"Well, that would be nice. Thanks… Ehm…" Naruto scratched the back of his head, grinning like an idiot. "I didn't catch your name."

"Cessily Kincaid. Friends call me Cess. My mutant name is Mercury." She held out her hand. Naruto shook it eagerly.

"Naruto! Nice to meetcha!"

--

"So, introductions… You already know Julian and Santo."

"We've been at thrown weapons' range, yes." Said two mutants frowned. Miss Frost's punishment was still fresh in their mind. You don't want to know what he made them see. Naruto's gaze then shifted to the other occupants of the table. A girl… All dressed in black? The only thing he could see of her were the eyes. Mercury noticed this.

"She's Sooraya, alias Dust. She's a Muslim, that's why she's dressed like that."

"Honoured to make your acquaintance." The girl bowed her head slightly, while Naruto's brain took the information about Muslims from what Emma had 'imprinted' in his mind… Got that. Muslims, praise Allah, woman can't show anything. Point taken.

"My pleasure!" Then, finally… A boy whose skin was completely golden. "And you are?"

"… Josh. Elixir." Naruto blinked. The guy didn't seem so lively. Mercury pulled on Naruto's arm to say something in his right ear. Naruto talked to her first.

"What's up with him?" He asked.

"He's pretty worried about his girlfriend. She got hurt, recently. And while he's a healer, he still hasn't been able to cure her injury."

"… Understood." Naruto straightened his back. Mercury just shapeshifted back in place, earning a groan of envy from Naruto. _That is so cool… I'm the only one who can't do cool stuff, here._

"Well, there's more. I still have to introduce to you to Brian, Jay, Sophia, Laurie, David and Noriko… Well, they'll come around eventually."

"Just hope you can introduce him to the others before they go away, Cess." Hellion paused from his food long enough to voice that retort. Naruto expected him to bear another one of those sarcastic smirks, but, instead… He seemed angry? And he noticed that the others around the table had suddenly started sharing Josh's mood. He scratched the top of his head.

"… And… They're going away… Why?"

"… Mister Logan has told you about M-Day, right? The day when most mutants went back to being simple humans?" Naruto nodded. Cessily sighed. "This school is for mutants only. Most of the students are going back home… Or god knows where in a while."

"…" Naruto blinked a bit, processing the girl's words in her mind… And he found himself frowning. "That hardly seems fair."

"It isn't. But the headmistress says so. Even some of the teachers were asked to go away." That were the first words pronounced by Josh ever since Naruto had learned his name.

"I say she's right. This is no place for them anymore."

"You're fortunate I have a tray in my hands, or I would smack the hell out of you for that comment, bastard." Naruto turned around… And suddenly noticed that he knew a lot of girls with unusual hair-colour or some other particular feature or role. This one had electric blue hair, and her forearms and elbows were completely covered by two metallic gauntlets. She sat beside him, putting the tray she was holding on the table with a bit more force than needed.

"Ehm…" Naruto tried to remember two of the names Cessily had pronounced. "You must be Noriko or Laurie, right?"

"The first one. Surge. And…" Noriko turned to him and immediately recognized him by the whiskers. "You're the thing that I blasted a few nights ago. Do you have a name?"

"Naruto. Uzumaki Naruto. Hey, you're the first person who has a name like mine, here."

"Well, duh. If you're Japanese…" Then, Noriko stopped talking and moving the spoon to her mouth. She thought about it a few moments. "You're not Japanese, are you?"

"I don't even know what that means." Honesty. One of Naruto's flaws or good points. Depends on the point of view.

"Alright. Taking in account all the things that the X-Men have come across, you at least come from an alternate future or something like that. So?" Naruto felt like he had just become the new hot topic of the school… And he hated knowing what that meant even if he had never heard it before. How much exactly did that woman put in his mind?

"Ehm… To tell the truth… They told me I come from another planet or dimension." He replied, scratching the back of his head. Everyone stared at him in their own way, but apart Sooraya, they all said 'What the hell are you saying?'. Santo voiced their thoughts.

"Man, you either win the Academy Award for bullshitting or for having had the worst Monday in history." The rockman then added one of his snorting laughs. Julian had taken it a bit more seriously.

"And what exactly did you do, in this… Other planet? You seem to be able to hold your own in a fight… Or at least, you didn't get knocked out by our attacks so easily."

"I'm a Ninja." Naruto replied, grinning and point at himself with one thumb. Cessily found this curious.

"For real? As in, trained assassins?" Naruto frowned.

"Mhhh… That's the basics of the work. But I don't like it very much. I haven't killed anyone yet." Naruto couldn't help but notice that some of them seemed pretty relieved from the fact. Julian in particular. Ninjas were famous for being able to kill you in your sleep, no? "But I've been on a lot of fun missions! I kicked so much ass that I lost count!"

"Like when?" Asked Noriko, a bit interested in the newcomer's words.

"Hmmm…" _Maybe I can tell them about Zabuza?_ "This was my first serious mission I took with my team! We were hired to…"

--

"And so, imagine my surprise when they… Uh?" Naruto was about to tell them about his surprise when he visited the Wave country during his training trip and found out that the bridge had been named after him, when he noticed a couple of things. First, that the crowd around the table had somewhat increased. Like, a lot of people. And then, some behaviours. Santo was holding something in front of his face. Looked like a paperbag. Other people had similar disgusted faces. And there was a guy with black skin and glasses who had wrote down some things on a block. He tried to focus on a matter at the time. "Ehm… What's wrong with the rock-boy?"

"He's been like this ever since your pretty graphical descriptions of needles going through your body and your teacher sticking his entire arm trough an ambiguous boy's chest." Replied Julian. And Santo's 'Bleeeeeeeeeurgh!' signalled to him that he had just lost his dinner. Julian patted him on the back. "He isn't used to these things, since he's mostly, you know, invulnerable."

"I guess…" Second matter. The guy writing things down. "And what did you write there?"

"Some interesting points. Like, the list of the body's vital points." Naruto sweatdropped. Seems like Zabuza could have been a good teacher. "Ah, my name is David, by the way."

"While I suppose that the brat's stories are pretty interesting, him coming from another world and all, I think it's way past bed time for most if not all of you."

"…" Naruto gulped and slowly, slowly turned his head around. He witnessed the figure of Logan, made almost spectral and even more frightening by the fact that the lights had been turned off. He didn't even notice that? And… One of the youngest mutants had the gut to say something.

"But Mister Logan! We want to…"

"… I said…" Snikt. Naruto swallowed. "Bedtime."

"EVERYONE RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!" That was Naruto. And surprisingly most of the people in the room did as told, him included. Or at least tried to, since Logan blocked him with his arm. A still Lariat. "ACK!"

"Eheheheh, I love this kid." He then tightened the grip around him with said arm. Naruto was crying silently. "Well, gonna take him to bed. Tomorrow we have to wake up early. Got a couple of things to do together. We're gonna have so much fun. Right, kiddo?"

"Help me…" A whine.

"See? He's tired as well. Night."

"…" Most of the people in the room left were the members of the younger X-Men teams, and observed the still Naruto being carried away by Logan. A still slightly sick Rockslide raised his face with a hint of a smirk.

"Urk… Ten bucks he thinks mister Logan wants to rape him in the…"

"Santo. Do not finish that sentence."

--

"This… This is… I mean, I've never…"

"It's just New York, kid. Just New York. Not stop turning around! It's been ten times already that you've risked to unbalance the bike!" Naruto shivered at the sound of Logan's admonishment. That motorbike ride had been really freaky. First, because Logan rode the thing like a crazy man. Crazy, Naruto says. That what had freaked him out at first. But he got used to it after a bit, and started looking around himself.

But what had really got his attention were the surroundings. The country road had been interesting enough, but when they got into New York… Things went to hell in his head. Skycrapers, autos, traffic, McDonalds… Everything new, some things even dangerous to his mind. And then he knew that Emma frost was a sadistic… She didn't bother putting in his head what a cheeseburger was, but he knew what you could find at Victoria's Secret. On Logan's motorcycle it was all proceeding too fast for his own good… Fortunately, they had already left that part of the city.

"Hey! Where are we going, by the way?!" Asked the ninja, raising his voice to let himself be heard over the city's and the motorbike's noises.

"We're almost there, kiddo… No, here we are." Logan began to slow down the motorbike till they came to a halt in front of what seemed a still in construction building. "Here we are. 177A Bleecker Street."

"Ehm…" Naruto read the sign. And he thought that riding motorcycles was somehow dangerous to Logan's mind. "And what exactly are we doing at the construction site of a Starbucks? What exactly is a Starbucks, by the way?"

"Appearances can be deceiving, as cliché as that can sound, boy. Get off the steed." Naruto got off his helmet and handed it back to Logan before getting off the 'steed' like the X-Man said. While he took care of the motorcycle, the blonde just kept on staring at the building. He just couldn't understand why they had made that trip there. He stared so much that Logan had to push him to make him move. Naruto instinctively opened the door and walked inside. It was all dirty, full of graffiti and such. Logan closed the door behind them. "Now to wait a few seconds."

"A few seconds for… What… The…" Naruto couldn't finish the sentence because the thing they had waited for had already happened. In front of his eyes the scenery, what he was looking upon… It changed. No longer were they in the dirty building. They were in what looked like a mansion. "What…"

"Welcome, Logan. Young Naruto."

"Always now how to make your entrance, Strange." Naruto shot his head up so fast that he almost broke his neck. A set of stairs. Upon which were descending a man dressed strangely, with a mantle dropping from his shoulders, and another man, shorter, bald, holding a tray in his hands. The first one gave away an air of… He didn't know… Grace. Power. Wisdom. How could anyone ooze wisdom? "As in, already knowing that your visitors are about to come."

"You were expected. Let's leave it at that. And I do know that the poor boy didn't eat much, this morning. So, I asked Wong to prepare something."

"Just some tea and a couple of sweets." Wong descended the stairs and presented the tray to Naruto, whose face immediately lightened.

"Waaaaaaaah! I love these! Thanks!" He dove in, taking the tray from Wong's hand. Logan groaned.

"And here I thought that he would show some manners, from the way he was gawking at you, Strange." Stephen just smiled knowingly as a reply.

"The needs of the body are difficult to overcome, Logan. I know that very well myself." Stephen turned his attention to the boy. "How are you doing, Naruto? Has your 'guest' given you any further troubles?"

"No. I mupht phay, he…" Then, he halted. The man was referring to the Kyuubi, but… It was the first time he ever met him in his life. He swallowed what he had in his mouth. "Wait a minute! How do you know about the Kyuubi?!"

"Let's say that I took the liberty to take some precautions after your arrival, Naruto. Did you like your new armband?" Naruto blinked and then shifted his gaze to said object. It was so comfortable that he had almost forgotten about it, but it was still there. And the blonde understood. He turned to Stephen about to ask, when he found the man's hand in front of his face. "Let's talk about this when we're more comfortable, shall we?"

--

There he was. Drinking tea with complete strangers like nothing had happened… And what was unnerving him the most was that the guy still hadn't talked about his problems yet. He was dieing to ask and know, but every time, Logan just sent him a stare that plainly meant 'Not yet'. After the second cup, Strange finally decided to talk again.

"So… I suppose you want to know what's that bracelet and why I applied it to your arm, Naruto." Naruto just nodded. The man had finally decided to talk. No way he was going to interrupt him now. "You see Naruto… I am the Sorcerer Supreme of this reality. That means, I must take care of every intrusion that relates some way to a mystic power. That includes demons, of course."

"Alright… So, how exactly… Did you take care of me?" Naruto held out his arm. "And how does this bracelet come into play?"

"Basically, that bracelet is a more efficient way of controlling the beast that resides inside you. He will now not be able to force his power upon you because of your emotions."

"Eh? For real?!" Strange nodded. He then took Naruto's arm.

"Each one of the bracelets that make out your bracelet controls a fraction of the beast power. If you turn them around…" Strange turned a full 180° the first of the bracelets. And Naruto gasped. He suddenly felt like his body had become suddenly sturdier, stronger… He felt a lot more of energy, and it felt hot. Nothing visible on the outside, though. "Each bracelet releases a fraction of the demon's power directly in your body, adding to your own energy and strengthening your body."

"Wow…" Naruto flexed his bicep… A fraction…. He understood. He felt just like when he went into One-Tail mode. The bracelets were nine, so, math… Then, another matter came to his mind. "Hey. Does this thing have to do with how fast I heal now? I mean, I've never healed this fast, before!"

"… Indeed. The bracelet also constantly channels a certain amount of the fox's chakra to permit fast regeneration. But…" Naruto blinked. Strange's tone had suddenly become solemn. "These past days I've done some further researches… And I think it should be better if I removed it."

"Eh?! Why?! It's so cool!"

"…" Strange slowly closed and reopened his eyes. "Naruto, from what I could see from your mind, people around you believed that these accelerated processes of healing would shorten your life. What do you think about it?"

"Hmmm…" Naruto let pass that reading his mind had started to look like the latest trend around superhumans, and focused on the matter. He remembered Tsunade saying something like that, but… "Frankly, I think it doesn't make sense." He squinted his eyes even further. "I mean, the fox would be pretty idiotic, if that was the case. If I die, she dies as well. That's what she told me the first time I met her. So…"

"Indeed. It would be foolish and stupid. But I can assure you, the demon in your belly is neither."

"Then, what… I mean, what does happen when I regenerate?"

"…" Stephen moved his hands in the air. Above them appeared two blue lights. "Let's say that these lights are a normal human's cells, Naruto." The cells slowly started to split and grow in number, lightening the room. "When one around gets damaged, they split and create other ones. But the number of each cell's regeneration is decided at birth. When they can regenerate no more…" The lights suddenly began to fight… Till they were no more. "The human dies."

"Ok…"

"Now, instead…" Stephen lightened another light. This one was… Bright red. Like a certain fox's chakra. "These are… Let's say the cells that usually form extremely powerful demons. Demonic cells, for lack of a better term. Unlike a normal human's cells…" The light began to split. Again. Again. And again, and again, and again. The red light was blinding him, by now. "The number of times they can regenerate is… Infinite. Also, they make the body stronger, more resistant to harm of any kind… But also, more affine with demonical energies."

"…" Naruto scratched the top of his head. "So?"

"Basically, when you regenerate, the human cells of your body are replaced by Demonic cells." He replied, dismissing the now bothersome red lights. Naruto scratched harder.

"… Don't follow."

"…" Stephen massaged his temples while Logan snickered. Really dense, the boy. He would have to work on that. "Basically, if you keep on using the fox's chakra to regenerate, the parts regenerated will become demonic. Like, if your entire body got to be made out entirely of demonic cells, you would become immortal."

"EH?! REALLY?!" That had been understood. Clearly. Naruto was shocked to say the least. Him? Immortal? Just like that?! "Immortal… Me? The fox is trying to make me immortal?"

"…" He kept on staring at the sorcerer's face, who had become deadly serious. "More than that… The demon is trying to create the perfect body to take control of."

"Eh?"

"Stephen just said that those Demonic cells are more affine to Demonic energy. Its energy." Naruto turned his head to Logan. "So, basically, kiddo… The more parts of your body get modified like that, the more easy will become for the guy to take over your body."

"That's why I believe it's better if we remove that ability from the bracelet."

"…" Naruto observed the arm that the armband now covered. He was reflecting on the matter… And then shook his head, grinning. "Nah. I'll keep it."

"…" Stephen go back on his feet, still deadly serious. He was starting to believe the boy to be really stupid. "Do you understand the implications of your choice?"

"Yes, of course. But you've just said that this thing blocks him from trying that, right?" Naruto replied, tapping the metallic artefact. Strange blinked.

"Yes, but… If you release the full power of the beast, it will no longer…"

"No big deal, then! I'll just have to remember to not turn nine bracelets! Come on, I'm not that dense!" Replied Naruto, crossing his arms behind his head. Stephen found himself, like rarely before, speechless… For a couple of seconds. He shook his head.

"But… There are enemies in this reality that could force you to do so."

"Then I'll run if I see one. Or…" Naruto gave him a thumbs up. "I'll just be sure to not fight them alone! And if it comes down to that, be sure that I will not let that furry take control of nothing of my body! It's a promise!"

"…" Stephen strange had taken many decisions in his life. Few had been hazardous or risky from the day he became the Sorcerer Supreme. But still… There was something about the boy that was alluring, tempting him to tempt fate. He smiled. "I just hope I'm doing the right thing…"

"Alright! Thanks, old man!" And at the same time, there was something really, really annoying about the boy from time to time.

--

"So, he's like… One of the most powerful beings on earth?"

"You don't know the half of it, kiddo. When I say that he can bend reality, I'm not joking." Logan had introduced Naruto to one of the Japanese restaurants he liked the most. But it seems that he liked to talk when he ate, and as much as Logan frowned, the boy just didn't show signs of stopping. Well, maybe it was the subject. Strange had said to Naruto that he would search for a way to send him back home, but first, he had to find out exactly where he came from. It was difficult because the residual trace of his passage had already disappeared. And that made Naruto curious about what exactly were the powers of the guy.

Logan had just finished explaining enough to his ears. So he just focused on his food and the place. It was nice. And he couldn't help but notice that most of the girls around there were all over him. Beast magnetism? "So… How come you know New York so much, Logan?"

"Been here lots of times. And recently, more than the usual. Joined a local super-Team."

"Eh?" Naruto ate another piece of Sushi before voicing his doubt. "But… Munch… Weren't you with the X-Men?"

"Swallow before you talk. And I'm with the X-Men too, yes. But I'm with the Avengers as well. The head said something about needing someone like me in the team."

"Nah, he just needed someone who could bake cookies better than Jarvis."

"Naruto, meet Peter Parker, one of the best or worst jokers in New York, other than one of the most brilliant mind of the same dump." Naruto raised his head to find himself face to face with the amazing Spiderman. Well, he still didn't know that, to tell the truth. He just saw a brown haired man waving at him from behind Logan.

"Hi. New student at the Xavier's? A pleasure." Peter extended his hand and Naruto shook it. And the man sure had a nice grip. He then sat beside Logan. "Haven't seen you around much, lately. How come?"

"Cap should have told ya. The whole thing in South Corea."

"Ah, right. The thing with your son and Winter Soldier. I suppose it was slightly traumatizing…" He then turned to Naruto. "And what brings you here in New York? Imagine my surprise when I saw my favourite baker eating sushi with a complete stranger. Tony could become jealous."

"Just a tour around New York. The kid has never been around here, and since I had some things to do, he asked if he could come along."

"Ehm… Yes! That's it!" Logan mentally frowned. Another thing he would have to teach him. Playing dumb when needed. Peter just smiled. He had noticed Logan going into Strange's place while he was on patrol. It probably had something to do with the boy.

"Oh, well. I'll leave you to your sushi. Enjoy your first time in New York, boy… On second thought, run for your life. See ya." Exit's line. Spiderman away. Naruto just followed him with his gaze. The first comment was…

"Who was the guy?"

"What I said stands still."Logan was sure that if he told the guy that Peter was the freaking Spiderman, half of the school would know it in less than two seconds. "Well, hurry up. We have another place where to be, before going back to school."

"Alrighty! Uzumaki Secret Jutsu! Tactical food diving!"

"…" Logan found himself palming his own face. He would have to kick that out of his brain too. Literally, maybe.

--

"Mutant town?"

"Yeah. Once, it was a mutant only neighbourhood. But after M-Day, it's just another piece of the big apple." Another parking, another stop for the strange duo. Naruto looked around. It was a pretty different neighbourhood from what he had seen of New York till that moment. Not excessively dirty like Strange's fake place, but not shiny either. Just below average, one could say. "Alright. He should come around…"

"Help! Burglar!" Logan didn't finish his sentence that he heard someone scream for help, and he then saw a man ran past him with a purse in his right hand. Naruto scratched the top of his nose.

"Hmmm… Burglar, so, he's a thief?" Logan just nodded. Naruto stopped scratching. "Should I?" Logan shrugged his shoulders. Naruto grinned and then sprinted forward.

When you're a burglar in New York, you have to expect anything, since most of USA's heroes reside there. The most common thing that you expect to happen is to be pinned to the ground by web. Spiderman, do whatever a spider can. But what really this particular burglar wasn't expecting was to find himself pinned to the wall by knives. Strange looking knives that hit those part of his clothing that were vacant but close enough to his body to become uncomfortable. And while struggling to get free, he certainly didn't expect three blonde twins to land in front of him in unison. One took the purse from his hands, another one was grinning to him and said… "Goodnight." Ouch. The punch was the last thing he saw. The third one proceeded to remove the kunais and put them back in the weapons' pouch.

"And the prize for today's good deed goes to Uzumaki Naruto, ladies and gentlemen."

"And I must have been really, really drunk to not remember a night with a blonde fifteen, sixteen years ago." Naruto blinked and turned around… And found himself face to face with another ninja. Yes, otherwise, he just couldn't explain how the hell he was looking at four identical man at the same time.

"Maybe it was a dupe, brotha."

"He would have remembered it."

"Maybe the dupe was drunk as well…"

"Jamie, I told you on the phone to not do that on the boy." The men snorted, and then, one after another, three of them rejoined the body of the fourth one, who turned to Logan.

"Sorry, couldn't resist making that joke. But he has not enough charm to be my boy. You'll have to look for the father somewhere else." Naruto's head was fuming. What the hell was going on there? Logan walked to him while shaking his head.

"Naruto, meet Jamie Madrox, the Multiple Man, leader of the X-Factor detective agency."

"… Dupes? You call them dupes?"

--

Meeting X-Factor was probably the strangest thing ever happened to Naruto. Mostly because of its members. Jamie was strange enough, but the big guy was even more surprising. There were plenty of mutants, it seemed. What was strange about Jamie was the fact that each one of his 'dupes' had a different personality. Naruto began to think what would happen if the same happened to his own copies. Two thousand Naruto each doing whatever the heck they wanted? Poor world.

Then, there was… The girl. Layla Miller. Her introduction had been somewhat comical. She held out her hand to him.

"I'm Layla. I know stuff. Ah, and it will not hurt for much."

"What do you… OW!" Right after, he had kicked the last step of the stairs leading to the place. And the girl didn't even smile. She just was like 'Told ya' without even saying it. After that, Naruto tried to focus on what was making him curious the most. Jamie's dupes.

"So, your limit is forty?"

"Once. It could have changed, by now. But unlike yours, from what you've told me, they are a bit more resilient." Naruto frowned. It was true. They needed just a single hit to disappear. And on top of that, Jamie had told him that he didn't spend any energy to duplicate, since it was a reaction to kinetic energy. He just needed to, like, snap his fingers or stomp his foot. "And, whatever skill and memory they learned gets passed to me whenever they disappear or I absorb them."

"Eh? Really?" Madrox nodded. Naruto whistled. "Cool. I don't know about mine…"

"Why don't you try?" Naruto nodded and then crossed his fingers, creating a single copy, who began to look around.

"Well… What I should do?" Jamie thought about it for a while and then an idea came to his mind. He pointed to a door behind them.

"See the door there? Go inside, close the door behind you and then search the bed." He simply replied. The clone nodded. It walked to the door, opened it and closed it behind him. Now, to wait… Naruto then noticed that Logan was snickering and the big guy was rolling his eyes. Layla was just keeping her cool… Suddenly, a loud noise and what seemed like a roar made themselves heard from the room. Naruto suddenly screamed.

"WOAH!" He blushed and got terrified at the same time. It was the first time he heard Logan laughing that hard, and Guido laughed as well. Jamie just snickered.

"I take it worked? What did you do?"

"Ehm… I… She… I mean, in the bed…" Naruto jumped when the door slammed and revealed a pretty redhead that was looking at him and Jamie with killing intent. Naruto immediately pointed at the older man. "IT WAS HIM! HE MADE ME DO IT!"

"Jamie, I dunnow how, but I know this is your fault!" She then turned to him, making Naruto shiver. "And you! I mean, how could you possibly not notice a girl sleeping in a bed?!"

"Ehm… It was pretty dark?" He tried to explain. The girl just pinched the bridge of her nose and growled. Naruto was almost shivering. His clone had been clawed. He didn't know how, but he had been clawed.

"Just… Shut up. It seems that I'm doomed to be around blonde teens trying to get in my pants." Replied the red-head, turning around. Now, there's a law about Naruto. He just doesn't know when to shut up. Especially when he should. Even if he has the best intentions. Like right at that moment.

"Ehm… Come on! You can't be that much older than me! Three years, top!"

"…" Rahne turned around again, observing him with a raised eyebrow. "And… How can you tell that?"

"Ehm…" Naruto stared at his right hand… And just had to blurt it out, didn't he? "It was pretty firm?"

"…" You could hear a pin drop. And the other males in the room trying to restrain their laughter. Layla gave him the best advice in the world. Like she says, half the stuff she knows, just comes from paying attention. And Rahne transforming into her lycantropic form was something difficult to not pay attention to.

"You better run. Rahne has a short temper." Naruto was out of the window in three seconds with Rahne on his tail. Let the chase begin.

_Continue…_

_In the next chapter…_

Time to go back to school. But before that, a chase and a new meeting. Of the sexy but still deadly kind. Can Naruto survive? Stay tuned!


	4. Love and Death I

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto nor Marvel… MEINOS SMASH

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto nor Marvel… MEINOS SMASH.

**No Reading**

**Chapter3:**** When girls attack**

"Can't we talk this through?! Yikes!!" The last one was dangerously close to his family jewels. You had to give something to the girl. She really knew how to aim for the parts that provided the most pain. And those claws were sharp. Damn, two ruined sets of clothes in two days. And he had started noticing something. His healing, there… When he was nervous, he healed more slowly. So, he needed to focus for that too, to make it go faster? Darn.

It was risky, when there was a wolf girl trying to gut him like a fish or at least to cut off his genitals while they were doing acrobatics over the city roofs. And the girl had had three occasions already of maiming him for good. And he didn't know how he had managed to dodge. Maybe it was a man's thing. When your manliness was in danger, you get stronger. Whatever. He was still in one piece and running away.

"You lost that right when you complimented me by using my butt as a reference! Grrooowl!"

"Hey! I need both my kidneys!" Naruto somersaulted and sprinted back on another rooftop, but Wolfsbane was hot on his tail. He then decided to use the tactic he used more often in these cases. He crossed his fingers together. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"

"!" Suddenly, Rahne's vision was filled with blonde. Naruto smirked, while he and his clones started heading in various different directions. Then… Something came to his mind. With Wolverine it had been useless. And not just because the mutant had taken every single clone out by himself, but because he could tell the original by the others by… Oh, shit. "Nice trick… But no smell on your dupes!"

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" Naruto felt fucked. And not in the good way. Wolfsbane had tackled him in mid air and they had fallen on the nearby roof, his butt first. They stayed silent among the dust they had raised for a while… Till she raised one of her claws. "NOOOOOOO!" And thus, revenge was exacted. Rahne clawed savagely and ferociously at his shirt, and consequently at his chest and torso just under it. The pain, the pain… Wait. Wasn't she going to harvest his inner organs?

"Nnngr… There's no fun." Rahne started reverting from her wolf form to her normal, redheaded busty form. She observed the wounds on Naruto's chest, slowly healing. She expected them to heal faster, but they were healing nonetheless. "No fun at all at hurting someone with a healing factor."

"… Sorry for ruining your fun?" Naruto sighed in relief. She was still pinning him to the ground by sitting upon him, but he was not about to die.

"Hmmm…" He winced when she scratched him yet again. She then patted him on his right cheek and got back on her feet. "You work out, it seems. Next time, try to buy me dinner or something."

"... Yes, ma'am." Naruto got up and groaned at his destroyed T-Shirt. So much for a change of clothes. Then… He noticed something else. And blushed. "Ehm… Rahne, was it?"

"Yeah?"

"Did you notice… You got out in just your jeans and a bra?"

"…" She noticed now. And the claw signs on his face hurt much much more than the one on his chest.

--

"Guys, if you wanted to get kinky, you could have just closed the door."

"Shut up, Jamie." She had seen the joke coming a mile away, but she still held the right to be angry and give him an angry retort. Naruto had a frown on his face. He liked that T-Shirt… Then he turned to Jamie with an angry look. Jamie just shrugged his shoulders.

"At least now you know something more about your dupes." He said. Naruto just sighed and then made a single handseal. A burst of smoke and he had the T-Shirt back on… Well, apparently. This caught even Layla's attention.

"Nice trick."

"Just the transformation technique. It's a basic ninja technique." He said, scratching the back of his head. Logan sniffed.

"But it still doesn't change your body odour. You always smell the same, kiddo…" Logan gave him another sniff. "And by the way, how the hell can you smell of fox and ramen? You eat that much of the stuff?"

"Ehm… Yes, actually." Logan sighed. Why did he even ask? He just got up from his chair and stretched.

"Whatever. It's time to go and pick up my 'package', Jamie." The leader of X-Factor nodded to Logan and got up from his chair as well. He then turned to Rahne, who had put on a white top, her black jacket and a pair of shoes. "You coming too?"

"Yeah. Need to cool off a little. Maybe exact some physical punishment on you."

"Whatever. Layla, keep company to Naruto, alright? We'll be right back."

"Yes."

"Eh? I have to stay here?" They didn't even reply to him. They just got out of the door and closed it behind him. Naruto blinked and then frowned. _Way to go, Logan. And you didn't tell me why you have come here in the first place._ He then turned his head to the other blonde in the room who had been assigned the task of 'keeping him company'. She just smiled.

"You are a mutant but you don't always read as one too, right?" Naruto blinked. Then, he remembered her powers. She 'knew stuff'. Naruto scratched the back of his head.

"I don't really know… Maybe it has something to do with the fact that I come from another place…"

"Hmmm… Understood. Too bad. I hoped we could help each other." Then, she suddenly blinked. Like she had just realized something. Naruto noticed it too. The girl kept on staring at him and he was starting to feel uneasy. "This is… Unusual."

"What? What do you mean?" Naruto was freaking out. The girl was really, really strange. Suddenly, she turned his head to one side and smiled, and she was playing with her hair. And he could hear faintly talking to herself. Why the hell was she acting shy all of a sudden? And even more suddenly, the blonde mutant got up from her seat walked to him and threw herself in his lap, then proceeded to circle her arms behind his head, earning a big blush from Naruto. "What is with…"

"The stuff I know… Sometimes, it's really strange stuff."

"I understood! But what… …" There were a few ways to shut up a loud guy like Naruto. The most effective is surprising him by doing something unexpected and likeable. Maybe something that can even teach him something new. Like, Naruto had never imagined how soft and silky could a girl's tongue feel. When she broke the kiss, she smiled and poked his nose.

"We're making out. Close your eyes, kiss back and move your hands a little. My lobes are pretty sensitive, by the way."

"…" Naruto complied, but no one could stop him from thinking that he really was his teachers' student… Only, he was probably going to get laid before hitting 18.

--

"Hmmm… You sure this is the place?"

"It is. At least according to the text message she sent me. I can always track her down by smell, you know." It was unusual for Wolverine to go and pick someone up at a train station. But, hey. First time for everything. He was standing with Madrox in the middle of the station waiting for the announcement of the train to appear on the big label. Guido and Rahne went to pick up his other 'package'. They would wait for them back at the office. "I must say I was surprised that she convinced herself after just a day. I thought it would have been harder."

"Well, she's your clone, after all. But she's a woman. Woman are subjects to sudden changes and swings of their moods even out of their periods. It's probably due to hormonal issues added to her more frail spirits."

"…" Logan slowly turned in Jamie's direction with a face that he had used very often, that day. The 'WTF' face. Madrox just shook his head.

"One of my dupes is a homo."

"Ah." Logan turned to face forward again. _That explains a lot._ Suddenly, his ears caught the announcement he was waiting for. The train he was waiting for. "It's here. Let's go."

"Little sister incoming at platform 15."

--

"Eheheh… Your hair tickles."

"Comes with the spikes, I guess." Naruto scratched the top of his nose while Layla played with his hair, still sitting in his lap. And he still was thinking about the answer to a certain question. Why the hell had he just made out for more than half an a hour with a girl that he barely knew? Not that he didn't like it… But what possessed her to start the thing? "So… What got into you?"

"I know stuff." Naruto's forehead twitched. It was seriously starting to get annoying. Layla just giggled and ruffled his hair a little. "I suddenly knew something and acted according to it. That's all."

"… I hate you." Then, something occurred to him. He blinked. "Wait a minute. How old are you?"

"Fifteen. You will get arrested in a couple of years, though."

"… Say what?" She just bit his nose. "Ow!"

"You'll love this, in a couple of years."

"…" Naruto just banged his head on the table. This was getting really, really awkward. Suddenly, he felt Layla getting back on the ground, and she adjusted her clothes a bit. "Don't tell me. They're coming back."

"In a minute to pick you up. You should probably transform back in a shirted version."

"EH?! WHEN DID IT COME OFF?!" Somewhere after the first ten minutes. Nonetheless, he just used the transformation technique again. Right on time. The door opened right after, featuring the members of X-Factor and Logan, who just stayed near the door, though.

"We're going, Kiddo. Say hi."

"Alright. It's been a pleasure!"

"All yours." Replied Rahne. Naruto just sweatdropped. She was still mad. Layla just kissed him on the check and he felt something slipping in his right hand.

"I'll see you soon."

"Ehm… Okay." Madrox, after observing the strange, as even, even more strange than normal Layla walk away, he shrugged it off and held out his hand to Naruto to shake.

"Work on your dupes. They're different from mine, but still, there are a lot of uses to them." Naruto took the hand and shook it energically.

"Thanks, I will." He broke the shaking and walked to Logan, waving his hand one last time before closing the door behind him. Madrox stared at the door a bit before turning in Layla's direction. He walked to the room she had gotten into and found her laying on the bed reading a book. Now, he just had to ask.

"What was that about?" He asked her. He sat beside her on the bed, smiling. "I mean, the kiss on the cheek, and whatever you slipped into his hand… Just what did you do while we were away, hn?"

"Nothing much. I just reacted to something I knew." Jamie chuckled. She was that age, finally. Guess he would have to check if the security camera had recorded anything. "I never thought I'd be the screamer kind…"

"…" Jamie fell from the bed on the ground so hard that he made out two dupes. The three of them then turned to Layla. "For the sake of my sanity, I will not ask anything more."

"You won't. I want to know! This is juicy, dude!"

"Ah, young love…" The original palmed his face. Of all the dupes…

--

"So, where did you disappear to, anyway?"

"I needed Jamie's help to pick up two things. They're waiting outside."

"Outside?" Logan opened the front door and Naruto found out Logan's motorcycle… With a couple of changes. First thing, it now had a sidecar attached to it. Second thing, there was a person leaning against it. A girl. Dark hair, green eyes, dressed in dark colours… The violet jacked was good on her, though. All in all… She was cute. "Ehm… Who is she?"

"She's my sister, Laura." Logan walked to her and then pointed at Naruto with his left arm. "Laura, this is Naruto. He's our newest purchase. He's a bit dense, by the way."

"H-Hey!"

"…" Laura just kept her silence and began staring at Naruto. That's what she had been trained to do. He was apparently arguing with Logan, who just shrugged it off and smirked. All in all… No danger at all coming from him. Even if she could tell that he was somewhat trained in combat, from his physique. He had stopped arguing… He… Smiled? He then offered her his hand.

"Laura, right? That's a pretty name. I hope we can become friends."

"… Friends…" She thought about it a little. No danger coming from him. She extended her hand as well and shook it. She was a bit surprised when Naruto suddenly started shaking it a bit faster than what she was comfortable with, though. Logan smirked.

_Looks like I was right in bringing him with me…_ "You know, she's a genetic clone created by my DNA."

"Eh? A…" Naruto turned to Logan, and then found out that he indeed knew what a clone was. "So… You can do everything he does?"

"… Yes."

"Wow! That's cool!" That made her even more uncomfortable. He had suddenly pulled on the hand he was holding. As a reaction, she got out her claws and was about to attack him… When she noticed that that's what he wanted to ask her to do. "Uh? Just two per hands? Logan has three."

"Hey, you'll have time to talk later. We have to go back to the school."

"Party pooper… God, again! Telepathy be damned!" Naruto let go of Laura's hand to hold his head in frustration. Laura held the hand and then stared a bit at Naruto, not understanding his behaviour… Then, something came to her mind. Yes, that had to be it. Schizophrenia. She had seen it happen to other subjects.

--

"Well, we're back. And don't bother showing Laura around. She has already been here."

"As I said, you're a party pooper."

"Hey, we stopped half-way here to eat at Burger King, right? If I were a party popper I would have just let you die of starvation."

"…" Naruto thought about it for a little bit… Then he swallowed. "Why can I actually picture you doing it?" Logan just shook his head smirking.

"Because I'm that much of a bastard." He picked up something from the sidecar and held it over his shoulder. He turned to the two youngsters. "Now, why don't you go and introduce Laura to the others, Naruto. I'll hold onto her luggage for the moment. You'll find it in you room after Scott tells me which one they've given you."

"Alright."

"Great! Let's go, then! I'll see you…"

"Tomorrow." Naruto blinked at that. What did he mean by that? Logan scratched his chin, thinking. "Hmmm… Scratch that. I'll see the both of you, tomorrow."

"What for?" Asked Laura.

"Training." Naruto's face was pure surprise. "Since you're the newest member of the 'Healing-Fast' fan-club, you're going to need to learn some things on that matter… And many more. And me and Laura are probably the best teachers you'll find on this coast."

"Well…" Naruto thought about it… And then smiled. He was offering to teach him. That was probably, like, the second time it happened in his life. "I can't refuse such an invite."

"Such an order. And don't eat too much breakfast. You'll throw up." Naruto sweatdropped, while he watched the mutant walking away. He scratched his nose right after.

"Talk about De ja vu… Oh, well." Naruto turned to Laura and flashed her his best grin. "So, let's go. I can't wait to introduce you to the others!"

"Why?"

"Eh?" Of all the words, Naruto didn't expect to be answered with exactly that one. Maybe it was a joke… No. She was serious. Well, not exactly serious. It was more like she wasn't showing any emotion on her face. "What do you mean 'Why'?"

"Why you want to introduce me to your other friends?"

"Ehm… Because there's a chance that they may befriend you too?" Laura chose silence this time. That was becoming the weirdest time of the day. And that was saying something, after being followed on roofs by a werewolf mutant and made out with the weirdest girl he had ever met. He scratched the back of his head. "I mean… Don't you want to make friends?"

"…" Laura held her arms together in front of her body, looking at the ground. She was thinking about what answer to give her. "All the people who get close to me or stay around me are in danger. So, I prefer to not befriend or form relationships with anyone. Mostly because that if I end up killing them I will not grieve for them."

"…" Naruto blinked once. Twice. Thrice. He then shook his head and did what instinct told him. He grabbed Laura's hand and started dragging her away. "You come with me."

"… Where?" X-23 let herself be dragged away cause she felt no ill intent coming from the boy. But she asked about their next whereabouts just in case.

"Screw introducing you to the others. You're going to talk with me over a hot cup of chocolate." _And just how do I know how to make hot chocolate? … GODDAMMIT!_

--

Sneaking in the cafeteria had been easy. Making chocolate for two had been easy. What had been hard had been listening to Laura's words. It wasn't that she was being emotional or secretive about it. It was the exact opposite. She was telling him about her life with a precision and lack of emotions that was almost frightening him. While she talked about her life, it was like he could see everything she talked about. Every single experiment, every single life she had taken, every single body her claws had sliced through. Her mother's too… When she finished, the chocolate had gotten cold, still in their cups. He hadn't managed to drink a single sip, too enraptured by her words to do so. But it was still useful to look at, when you needed a point to focus on.

"…" Naruto was staring at the cup like he expected the chocolate to suddenly grow a mouth and tell him what he was supposed to say after hearing… Her life. It didn't happen. He rubbed his forehead. "And I thought I had it bad…"

"Why are you so upset?" She noticed his current status of mind. He was deeply upset. But not as in 'scared for her'. It was something else.

"We're similar… Yet, so different. I've faced loneliness, indifference, but you…" Suddenly he raised his head, a strange look in his eyes. Laura couldn't immediately tell what it was. "I've never known my real parents or any other relative, and I've been alone all the first twelve years of my life. You… You had a person that you call mother, but you killed her."

"I…" He cut her off. He still hadn't finished.

"I was trained to be a killer too, but because of my own choice. You were born to be trained as an assassin. Even before appearing to this world…"

"I wasn't…" He did it again.

"I have a demon inside me that when takes over it hurts everyone around me, be it enemy or friend. But still, I have to give in to my rage. You…" He looked at her again with that same look. She realized that it was sadness. She had seen it in the eyes of some of her victims… Or their beloved. Like that child she had spared years ago… "You don't have a choice. They just need you to smell something and…" He covered his face with one hand. "God, what is wrong with people? How can they ever… Think of doing this to a person?"

"… I'm a weapon. I…"

"You're a person!" It was becoming a habit. And this time, he looked enraged. She wasn't exactly surprised, but she wasn't expecting that reaction from him. "As long as you're able to make your own choices and fight for what you want, you're a human… Well, a mutant! But the point is, you're a living being with feelings! And no one in the world… Scratch that! In the universe! I'm a fucking alien, right?! No one has any right to hurt people in the way they hurt you!"

"…" Laura observed his outburst and listened to every word. While she couldn't understand everything he said, one thing was clear. He was angry. He was angry at the people of the Facility for what they have done to her all those years. But… Why? "Why are you so angry?"

"You even have to ask?! I… Ehm…" That question had caught him. He just didn't know what to reply. Why he always got angry when he heard about things like those? He didn't know. He had always been like that. "I… I don't know why! I'm like this! Got a problem with it?!"

"… No. I just don't understand." Naruto groaned and slumped in his chair, Laura's gaze always on him.

"… This is going to take a while…" Naruto suddenly blinked. He had gotten an idea. Of course, it was so simple. He was talking about a girl with no emotions, it seemed. So, what best shock-therapy that putting her up with the most emotional guy he knew? His face was suddenly a mask of determination. "Alright. You've just signed your death penalty, girl."

"… What?" That really confused her. For the first time in a while, she had been surprised by something.

"We can't be room-mates, otherwise god help me, I would room with you. But from now on, it doesn't matter what you do or where you are, you're not going to be alone one minute. We will walk together, eat together, even study together, if you're that kind of girl, even if I'm likely to fall asleep after the first five minutes if it's not something interesting. A 24/7 dose of Uzumaki Naruto till I see you crack a smile, do sarcasm or at least get pissed off at me. The third one is more likely to happen, but as long as I can regrow limbs and organs, I will be fine."

"…" Laura's mouth was slightly open. It was… Her brain had at first identified that speech as something between a promise of stalking her to find her unprotected and easy to kill and sexual advances. But… It just didn't compute. She couldn't understand what he was trying to say or do. "W-What…"

"No discussions on this matter! It's settled and not even you or Logan cutting off my family jewels will make me change my mind!" Naruto immediately cringed at the mental image. "Even if it would be really uncomfortable…"

"…" No reading. "I…"

"Now you're going to finish your chocolate and then we're going to introduce yourself to the others! And you will do exactly as I say! That clear?!" He said, his arms crossed in front of his chest.

"…" Laura was really, really confused. The boy in front of him changed his emotional situation as quickly as a he breathed, and all his words… She had barely managed to understand the sense of the last part, because it was some kind of order. But then… "Yes?" Why did she felt inclined to reply positively? His reaction was a big smile.

"Good! Now, a toast with chocolate!" Little did Naruto know that he had managed to do two things, that day. The first one was making Laura agree to something she didn't even understand what it really was. The second one was making Wolverine burst out laughing. The mutant literally cut off his vocal chords to avoid getting discovered. Not a good thing, peeking on your protégés. But he was glad he had done so. He had never heard Laura stutter.

--

"… Maybe tonight isn't the best night to introduce you." Naruto had about found out by what he had witnessed. First, shouting coming from the common room, if it was the common room. Yes, it was the common room. Then, a girl, Sophia if he remembered correctly, passed him with a veil of anger and sadness in her eyes. Then, when walked a few more steps, he found Julian and Noriko about to brawl. Nori's glows were glowing with that blue energy, and Julian was enveloped by his own aquamarine one.

"… What should we do?"

"Stop them, of course. It's better if you plug your ears." Naruto cleared his voice, and then remembered that time he had pulled the same prank on Sasuke. He crossed his fingers and produced twenty clones. Laura seemed to understand what he was about to do, even if she didn't understand how he had just multiplied. She plugged her hears nonetheless. The Narutos breathed in as much air as possible, put their hands to their mouths and then… _**"TIIIIIIIIMEEEEE OOOOOOUUUUUT!"**_

"AAAAAAAAH!"

"WHAT THE…"

"MY POOR EARS!"

"OOOOOOOOOW!" The effects were many and amusing. Most people winced and plugged their ears. Noriko accidentally let out a bolt that hit Santo straight in the chest, burning his sleeveless shirt. The giant produced a 'Awww, man… I liked this thing.'. But the most amusing was Julian. His energy disappeared and he fell to the ground hard, on his butt. After regaining enough focus, he turned to his left and glared at the troop of blondes who were currently laughing their ass off, disappearing in clouds of smoke one after the other. "W-What the hell?! You want a beating too?!"

"Ah! I'm ready to hand your ass to you anytime, kiddo." Naruto blinked and immediately palmed his face. He was getting infected with Wolverine. He just shook his head. "Nevermind." He suddenly placed both his hands on the shoulders of the girl to his side. "I just wanted to introduce you to Laura. She will be staying at the school!"

"It's… Nice to meet you." She repeated his exact words, even if not in the same exact tone. She didn't even know why she added that pause. She could not, though… Crack a smile. The replies were what Naruto expected. Some waves of the hands, smiles, silence and a couple of 'Hi, Laura.'. Perfect, in his mind.

"She's Wolverine's younger sister, by the way. She can do pretty much everything he does."

"Yeah, whatever…" Julian just shrugged it off. Naruto glared at him. The guy went into ass-mode too often for his own good.

"Hey, you usually piss people off after you know them, you know. Geez." He said and then heard Noriko crack her… Gloves.

"Another reason for frying him up." Suddenly, David leaned a hand on Noriko's left shoulder.

"Let it go, Nori. He's not worth it."

"Can't I kill him just a little?"

"You wish, Gloves."

"Come on, Guys. I know a better way of blowing off steam."

Naruto palmed his face. Not really the best evening. Most of the people he knew in the room were leaving it. He sighed and whispered in Laura's right ear. "Let's just sit on the couch. We'll socialize by watching Television. You go first. Remember my instructions."

"Yessir." She was starting to get the hang of it. If it was laid up like a mission she could follow it… Suddenly, he poked her in the forehead.

"Naruto. We're friends. Friends call each other by first name."

"Ehm… Yes, Naruto." She rubbed her forehead. How had he hurt her? She just shrugged it off and walked to the sofa. Naruto crossed his arms a bit boastful. His apprentice, someway… Suddenly, someone tapped his shoulder. He turned around. Cess. "Hey, Cessily."

"I haven't seen you the whole day. Where have you been?" Naruto grinned.

"Don't you remember last night? I went to New York with Wolverine. We had to see some people. One stop for me, one stop for him. And lunch and dinner between the two." He said, smiling. Cess smiled back, even if a bit of sadness.

"I see… Well, at least you had fun. We… Well, there has been a bit of tension. Mostly because of M-Day still, and… There's this guy, Stryker. He has made a comeback and…"

"Stryker…" Naruto turned to the television. It clearly said 'Stryker' under the image of a man's face. It was dressed as a priest, it seemed. And it had a calm, reassuring face. The kind of face most people would trust on first sight… Too perfect to be trustful in Naruto's eyes. "Who is he?"

"Basically, he is a Christian fundamentalist televangelist who sees himself on a mission from God to destroy the mutant race. He has tried many times to wipe it out for good."

"… He… Ah." Naruto held his hand in front of his face. Having a telepath mess with your mind wasn't really nice. Especially if you suddenly remember things like that, like the things Stryker had done. All the violence against mutants, kidnapping Charles Xavier to make him kill every mutant on earth, trying to execute Kitty Pride on Television, but most of all, the violence, the killing… He felt sick. In less than three hours, he had heard of people who made Orochimaru look like a philanthropist. "What… What is wrong with this world?"

"I wish I knew, too. He seemed to have turned a new leaf last time, but…" Cessily shook her head, and then heard Julian calling her name. She 'Tsk-ed'. "Gotta go. I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Of course. Breakfast."

--

"Danger room, hn?"

"Exactly. Once it's turned on it rightfully earns this name." Naruto observed all around him. It was an enormous room made out of metal, it seemed. It was also very plain. But he guessed that whatever made it the 'danger room' was hidden, at the moment. He had opted for a couple of shorts, that morning. He felt like it. Now, after breakfast, Logan had brought him and Laura to that place. Training time. Logan focused his attention on him again. "Alright, kiddo. I pretty much know everything about your physical abilities, but not everything about your other abilities. I have to know everything you can do, before we start."

"Ah, alright. Well, simple things first. Henge!" Naruto made a single handseal, and with a burst of smoke he transformed into Santo. Wolverine 'Hmm'-ed in interest. "Transformation technique. I can transform in anything I want. But it doesn't change my smell, and I don't take on properties of what I morph in, if I morph in a person or an animal. Just the appearance."

"Alright." Naruto undid the transformation. "Next, that thing you can do with multiplying. I heard you talking about it with Madrox, so, just a question. What is your limit? How many copies of yourself can you do?"

"Hmmm… I really don't know." Naruto rubbed his chin in thought. "I mean, three years ago, my limit was 2000 copies at one time."

"2000…" Wolverine was actually impressed from something, for a time.

"But, my chakra has grown a lot since that time. So, right now, I'd say… In theory… Between 4000 and 5000."

"Without taking in account the energy you can get from your personal furball, hn? That's a really nice trick you got there, kiddo. Then? That's all."

"One more thing! My secret special technique! Check it out!" Naruto grinned, before holding his right hand. He grinned. He had learned to do the normal one with just two hands. He started gathering chakra and controlling it with the upper hand. When the usual noise of swirling began to get heard in the surroundings, Wolverine rubbed his chin again. Seems like he was gathering a lot of energy in a little shape… The shape of a sphere, it seemed. In a few seconds, it was completed. "It's called Rasengan! Ehm…" He looked around. "I'd need a target."

"You've got one." Wolverine opened his arms and pointed at himself. Naruto raised an eyebrow."

"Are you crazy?! This thing is pretty powerful!"

"As long as even a shred of my brain remains intact, I cannot die. Happy?"

"… So, I just don't have to hit you in the head… Still, are you sure?"

"We don't have all day, kiddo. Just do it and be done with it."

"…" Naruto swallowed… And then ran towards Wolverine.

--

"Even I have my limits. Absolutely not!" Scott remained immobile, while Emma had her outburst. He was expecting this. "It took time, but I've finally pierced X-23's mental shields. Death is all she knows! She's assassinated hundreds without remorse. She even killed her own mother."

Scott made her talk. When she stopped, he just simply replied…

"Logan vouches for her."

"That doesn't exactly help your case, Scott. With everything he's done recently, I don't think he should be around the kids, either." He raised his voice only when she started talking nonsense.

"Logan is an X-Man, Emma. He's saved both our lives, time and time again. He vouches for her. Just like professor Xavier vouched for you. That's good enough for me."

"Scott, the children have enough dangers facing them outside the walls of this school. The last thing we need to do is bring more inside."

"Well, if the point is danger, that blonde kid can be a lot more dangerous than X-23. But you didn't complain anymore after the first day."

"Because Strange took care of it, Scott. And because I saw inside his mind. That kid boasts about being trained as ninja, but he has never killed anyone and I saw him get hit by a volley of sharp weapons willingly to keep other people from harm! He's got a good hearth and he's as harmless as a fly!"

--

"OH MY FUCKING GOD! BLEAURGH!"

"Oh, come on. It's like you have never seen someone's inners regrow… Well, you probably didn't. Nice technique, by the way. You would have killed a normal man. That's for sure."

"Indeed. It has a high lethality. It even bypassed Logan's armor and managed to damage his lungs, even if the adamantium itself didn't get damaged."

"STOP TALKING ABOUT INNER ORGANS! COUGH!"

--

"Emma, I stood by you when you let Danielle go and I'm willing to let you try this new training system, but…"

"Scott—"

"Emma, that's enough! X-23 stays. End of discussion."

"…" Emma observed Scott walk away. She just couldn't shake this feeling of uneasiness. Especially knowing that Logan was personally training the two younger mutants.

--

"Alright. Change of skin and change of clothes, and here we are again."

"Change of stomach and oesophagus too. Ugh… I think I hurt my digestive apparatus by vomiting so much… Alright. This is getting really freaky." Seems like he had just found something to distract him from his vomit fits. He stood up and placed his hands on his hips. "It's not just that I know another language anymore! I actually know more things! I'm sure I haven't even heard the words digestive and apparatus in the same sentence before!"

"Let's focus on other things. So, we've seen everything?" Naruto thought about it… And then shook his head.

"Well, there's my summoning technique. Basically, I can summon these toads that fight for me and do my bidding…" Then he frowned. "Well, when they want to."

"Sounds stupid even for you. Let's focus on what you have here till now." Naruto frowned even more. It didn't occur to him that he had forgotten to tell Wolverine that the frogs he could summon were as tall as buildings, could wield swords, use techniques and talk. "So, basically, let's resume what we have here. Your physical abilities are far above a normal human's one, and you know a way of strengthening them further. You have a healing factor that can save your ass as long as they don't cut or rip your head off or burn you alive, drop you in acid and similar." Naruto made a terrorized face at those thoughts. "You have a way of disguising yourself efficiently as long as your enemy doesn't have an heightened sense of smell. But your greatest advantage is the fact that you can go from one to five thousands in a matter of seconds."

"My greatest advantage? Eheheh, I guess, it's my most awesome technique…" Naruto was getting an injection of pride.

"Or better, it could be if you used it better." Naruto's head fell down so hard that Laura believed he had hurt himself. Logan just shook his head while chuckling. "Alright. Basically, there are two… Paths in which you can train yourself, kiddo. The first one is the… Berserker path, let's call it that. Basically, since there's little that can kill me or slow me down, as long as I endure the pain, I can just rush in against most enemies and deal damage while shrugging off what happens to me. But, this isn't suitable for you. Because unlike me you don't have an adamantium skeleton protecting your brain and your other organs from damage. There are a lot of things that can kill you, unlike me."

"Ehm… Got it. Rushing blindly into battle is bad. Really bad… … Oh my god."

"Don't tell me. That's what you usually do. You're probably as lucky as Long-shot, then." Naruto slumped, feeling dirty inside, suddenly. Logan just smirked. "Then… The other way. The Ninja way. The one you should have been following, if you wanted to stay true to your profession."

"As in?"

"I don't know how it is in your world, kiddo, but ninja here are masters of stealth who stay hidden from sight waiting for their opponent to drop their guard so that they can kill them in one shot or at least deal the most damage possible before engaging in close combat, if it's really necessary." Naruto nodded, taking mental notes. "Then, in combat, they're masters of hit and run, and dodge. They hit whenever they see an opening and then run away immediately after, waiting for another chance. They focus on agility, hitting hard without being hit. To them, something like an healing factor is just an insurance. A final resource."

"And…" Naruto scratched his right cheek. Judging from how he talked about it, it sounded really cool. "You think that style is suited for me?"

"Yes. You have the reflexes and raw power for it, and many means to go unnoticed. But most of all… Think about it this way." Wolverine pointed his right index finger at him. "The biggest problem of your copies is that they just need one strong it to go 'poof'. Now… Imagine if they learned to dodge most of the things thrown at them."

"…" Naruto thought about it. He was right. Most of the times he used his copies as a distraction of just a brief second, more than for dealing actual damage if he didn't make a really big number of them. And sometimes it wasn't enough. He still remembered the battle against Kimimaro. If he learned that kind of tactic… His salivation went out of control. He wiped off the drool. "When do we start training?!"

"Immediately." Naruto blinked. Wolverine just started chuckling and the walked towards the person in the room who had spoken less words than anyone, putting one hand on her left shoulder. "Your training will be to dodge Laura's attacks. And while she will not kill you, she will try her best to hurt you."

"…" Naruto swallowed. Logan patted Laura's shoulders one more time and then started walking out. "Y-You're not staying?"

"Nah. I entrust you to her. Ah, by the way…" Logan had already opened the door, and was right under it. He turned to him one last time. "When you regenerate, focus on the vital parts first. Or if you've not gotten hit anywhere like a kidney, on the parts that hurt the most."

"Ehm… And you told me that because…" Snikt. Slash. "AHHHHHHHHHHHHH! MY FINGERS!"

"They will regrow in a couple minutes. But it still hurts like a bitch, hn?"

--

"He went to Strange with the boy, you say."

"Indeed, boss." It happened over the months from the moment Spidey joined the Avengers. They now said about him 'Spidey has his head so far up Iron-Man's ass'… Well, you get the drift. But the thing was, he was his assistant. He was his head as both in real life and in the Avengers. They were currently both headed to Washington. So, he needed to report to him everything he found strange. "Nothing dangerous, of that I'm sure. But it's still strange."

"…" Tony reflected about it. So, Logan and Stephen were keeping something from him. It would not have surprised him if it was about something that happened after their recent talk, but it was about something that happened before. That 'demon' that attacked Xavier's institute. But still… "… If it's about a mutant, it's better to let them deal with it, unless it becomes an open threat. Do you assure me that you didn't feel ill intentions or any other danger of sort coming from that boy?"

"Dangerous as a sack of kitties, boss. Wet kitties."

"… I understand." Tony shifted through the contents of the suitcase and presented Peter with something. "This is it, Peter. The enemy. You should read it before we land."

Peter's attention got caught by the size of the thing before the title, that read 'Superhuman Registration Act'.

--

"I didn't know you could bend a knee like this… Ow!"

"Stay still." Naruto bit his lip to refrain himself from shouting even more while Laura put back in place his busted knee-cap. It really, really hurt. He had hurt in places that he didn't even know could hurt, in his opinion. He had regrown skin, muscles and bones. And because of that he started to admire Logan a bit. If the man went through that and worse kinds of pain every time he fought someone more powerful than a thug but nonetheless endured it and managed to come out as a victor… Come on. What could you say about a man like that? Crack. He winced. The knee-cap was back in place. And he heard the sound of a bell. Training was done for that morning. He let himself fall on his back.

"Damn… I'm beat…"

"Do you hate me know?" Naruto blinked. What was with Laura and sudden strange questions? He raised his head from the floor to look at her. Seeing his confusion, she started to explain. "In the past 4 hours I've cut, mutilated, injured, skewered and beaten you multiple times."

"Jeez, no need to remind me." Naruto slowly put himself back in a sitting position in front of Laura, with a frown on his face… And then punched her on the head, hard. Laura actually let out a small 'Ah' of pain, and she rubbed her head. How could he hurt her that way? And then she met his angry gaze. "It was all part of training, right? And I doubt you could do anything that would hurt more than having a whole harm put a hole in your right lung and shoulder. Just don't remind me how much I need to improve. I dodged like, one tenth of all your attacks."

"…" Everything about the boy didn't make any sense. He seemed to get angry for anything but what happened to himself. So, the only words she could find to describe him were… "You're really strange."

"That's Uzumaki Naruto for you!" He grinned and with a little jump got back on his feet, and almost bust out his kneecap again. It still hadn't healed. He shrugged it off but offered Laura his hand to get up nonetheless. "Come on. We've got a shower to take and some lunch that isn't going to it itself."

"…" Laura could have got back on her feet on her own, for sure. And she could have told him so. But she didn't. She just grabbed his hand and let herself be pulled back in a standing position. "Thanks."

"Hey! It's a step forward!" He patted her on her left shoulder with that same grin, and then didn't let go of her hand and started to pull her out of the room. And she didn't know why, she let him do so.

--

"Hmmm… Yes. It is indeed intriguing." He kept on scanning various dimensions and planets because you could never known where inspiration could come next from. But one planet in one particular dimension held a particular place in… Whatever he had in place of a heart. He was pretty sure he had removed it long ago. Earth, it was called from its inhabitants. And recently that very same planet provided him with some more information. Something had arrived from somewhere else. He wanted to know what and where. It could provide useful information. But he needed a deeper, closer analysis. He knew who could provide him with it. He just had to make a call, hoping that she was still in her shop.

--

"Hmmm…" She had received a call just recently and now someone, somewhere, was saying her name. "What would they want with little me while I'm working on this deadly artificial arm?"

_Continue…_

_In the next chapter…_

Naruto has been having mostly fun ever since he arrived at the Xavier's. But in the arc of four days, things happen. Matters will shake his very core, awakening him to the real nature of the world he has currently found himself in. First stop: Stamford. Stay tuned.


	5. Special II

Special#2

**Special#2**

**List of Marvel Characters in order of appearance**

**Note:** This is just a list of names and superpowers, leaving alone other skills possessed by the characters. An example. Wolverine. I'll write here that his powers are high speed regeneration and retractable claws and so on, but these are things that come from his body. Skills are for example that Wolverine is trained in martial arts, assassination techniques, usage of various high-tech machines, etc… Things that he has learned. Writing each of them for each character would take too long.

**Name: **Lucas Bishop (Bishop)

**Affiliations: **X-Men, ONE, NYPD

**Powers:** Energy absorption and projection  
Superhuman physical attributes  
Ability to instinctively know present location  
Skilled marksman and hand-to-hand fighter

**Name: **Dr. Stephen Vincent Strange

**Affiliations: **New Avengers, Illuminati, Defenders, Nightstalkers, Midnight Sons

**Powers:** Genius level intellect and world-renowned neurosurgeon  
Possesses the Soul Gem  
Extended Life-span  
High level magic & cosmic energy wielder able to generate a near infinite range of effects

**Name****:** Victor Borkowski (Anole)

**Affiliations: **X-Men

**Powers:** Green scaly skin  
Spiked head carapace  
Prehensile sticky tongue  
Superhuman agility, speed, reflexes, coordination, balance  
Wallcrawling  
Regeneration

Camouflage

**Name: **James Howlett (Logan) (Wolverine)

**Affiliations: **X-Men  
New Avengers  
X-Force  
S.H.I.E.L.D.  
Horsemen of Apocalypse  
Alpha Flight  
Weapon X  
Weapon Plus  
Department H  
HYDRA  
The Hand  
New Fantastic Four

**Powers:** Regenerative healing factor  
Superhuman senses, strength, stamina, agility, and reflexes  
Adamantium-laced skeletal structure with retractable claws  
Expert martial artist

**Name: **Sooraya Qadir (Dust)

**Affiliations: **X-Men

**Powers:** Ability to turn into a cloud of sand, control direction of cloud and reform

**Name: **Peter Benjamin Parker (Spiderman)

**Affiliations: **Avengers  
New Avengers  
Secret Avengers  
"New Fantastic Four"

**Powers:** Superhuman strength, stamina, speed, agility, reflexes, durability and equilibrium

Accelerated healing factor

Ability to cling to most surfaces

Precognitive spider sense

Web slinging (webbing is synthetic and organic)

--

**NarutoVS…**

Special section that will come with every special, because some of the readers have said that I have basically depowered Naruto and that he should kick ass with anyone in front of him. Now, I suppose they probably don't follow Marvel much, because that continuity has such broken characters… Nevermind.

I present you a few matchups, with the formula NarutoVSMarvel Character, with sometimes even percentage of victory for both sides, and always explanations on the reasons why.

**Naruto VS Spiderman**

Hm... Well, let's see. As far as mobility goes, I'd say Spidey is even with Naruto. Naruto might be a bit faster, but Spidey can bend at angles that nobody has any right to, so he gets the lead in agility.

Strength-wise it's one-sided. Spidey is way stronger when it comes to pure brute force.

The stamina edge obviously goes to Naruto, although Spidey's newest 'additions' from The Other could cause a problem.

Range gets Spidey a win, no contest. The webbing is very versatile, too.

Now, here's where things get funny. Kage Bunshin is useless on Spidey, because he already faced people with multiples in the past, and it always warned him of who was the original. And that web can do a good job of packing Naruto up. Depending on whether Naruto tries the usual bum rush with KBs or not, the battle could go on a while or end in seconds, but personally, I see Spidey having the edge. He specializes in being the underdog and fighting multiple enemies attacking from all directions.

**Naruto VS Shadowcat**

Um. Okay. Physically, Naruto is superior. End of story.

The problem? You can't beat something that can't be TOUCHED. And Kitty's phasing does not use up her stamina or depend on her being conscious - in fact, she can stay phased even unconscious, or phase in her sleep.

She still needs to breathe, but pegging her with a smokebomb, assuming Naruto has any, which I'm not willing to concede seeing as he didn't use any in the manga, is not simple, since she can simply phase through a wall nearby and escape it in response.

And if she phases INSIDE Naruto, you can bet your pretty little ass that he'll be hurt a whole lot more than she will. Take the time when, in the Wolverine what-if, she phased her hand in Logan's skull. Let's just say brain matter and her hand didn't get along...

Overall, Naruto would have to blindside her before the fight even begins, or she will just phase out and mess with him until he gets careless. Do remember this is the woman who, as a 15 years old girl, fought a soul-eating demon from hell and actually KILLED it, all alone and with nothing but her creativity and her own power - not even battle experience.

**Naruto VS Quicksilver**

Quicksilver... is weaker as far as brute force goes, but can move at a speed that makes Naruto look like he's crawling slowly, and while his reflexes are a little slower than his body speed, they are still fast enough to snatch arrows in midair. Unless Naruto manages to catch him in a narrow space, he's going to be run circles around.

However, it's a toss up whether Pietro KOs him before he gets tired. I say 60/40 for Quicksilver.

I'm also gleefully ignoring the Terrigen Mists powerup. That one's just retarded. Run through TIME? Sheesh.

**Naruto VS The Rhino**

Uh. Okay. The Rhino is stronger than Naruto by a very large margin, and while he's slower than Naruto, he still can charge faster than anything that big has any right to.

IIRC, his rhino suit is now part of his body and makes him really, really tough. However, if Naruto can hit a good spot, I THINK the Rasengan should KO him.

The problem is that to hit a good spot, specifically the head, Naruto has to get in the way of Rhino charging. And that's not healthy, in a 'you'll be run THROUGH' kind of way.

Still, Naruto has the advantage. I say 60/40 for him.

**Naruto VS Tombstone**

Wow, this is a stiff matchup. Naruto will most likely not even use Rasengan - Tombstone is a pure brawler, and will gleefully fight him the way Naruto likes - head on and no tricks, just brutal endurance.

Tombstone is actually HARDER to injure than Naruto, so Naruto will have to hit him as hard as he can and avoid being hit back, because our pale friend hits like a dump truck without brakes and is about as resilient.

I'd say... if Naruto pulls a Rasengan it'll be his match, but he's unlikely to, as Tombstone isn't the type to let an opponent 'CHARGE HIS LAZAR', so to speak. It's going to be a running battle to the end.

**Naruto VS Multiple Man**

Match of the century. Uhh... well, let's put it this way. His clones are less and more resilient than Naruto's, and actually don't disperse if Naruto goes down for a nap. Moreover, they all have different personalities and different knowledge - Madrox has no idea how to rig explosives, but one of his clones did.

Naruto does, however, have the advantage that he has the superior physical skills. I say 60/40 for him, unless the surprise at clones that don't go 'poof' when hit makes him drop his guard.

**Naruto VS Doc Ock**

If he gets his tentacle arms around Naruto, it's lights out. Also depending on which arms he's using, he might pose a huge problem because of them being indestructible.

As usual, he's physically inferior to Naruto, but his extra arms give him colossal range and more than enough strength to level buildings, so it's a small issue. Depending on if he'sn using them to 'walk' in air, he might also be hard to reach.

...I'll say 50/50, because Ock is hard to predict when he's not fighting Spider-man.

**Naruto VS Captain America**

Ooooo, this is a toughie. Cap is the pinnacle of human capabilities - as strong, fast, agile and tough as humanly possible. Additionally, he's an incredibly fast thinker, has a modicum of regeneration, high pain tolerance and a great strategic mind.

Even in Naruto he could comfortably aim for Jounin on that alone. So he's actually going to put up a hell of a fight against anyone.

His shield is also a giant factor in this, given his ability to throw it in such a way that it always comes back, and its being indestructible (adamantium, IIRC). And his martial arts training makes simply overpowering it complex, since he can and will turn your own numbers and brute force on you.

It's... horribly close, really. I'm giving 60/40 to Cap based on pure experience - he's been doing this far, far longer than Naruto has.

**Naruto VS The Punisher**

Firearms OWN Kunai.

Naruto is faster, stronger and tougher than Frank. I'm fairly sure, however, that he's NOT faster than machinegun fire. Assuming he even understands that he needs to dodge the strange contraption the guy with the skull is pointing at him.

He still has a chance to win, if he creates at least a thousand Kage Bunshin right away and zergs Frank, but he usually doesn't create that many, and anything less will probably get him mowed down with his clones by a flood of bullets. Frank isn't the type to let surprise startle him into inaction... he'll shoot first and question what he saw later.

And that's assuming Frank only has small firearms. If he's packing heat in the form of flamethrowers, rocket launchers or grenades, as he often does, it's going to get messy.

**Naruto VS Cloack & Dagger  
**

Naruto can't harm Cloak at all, period. Cloak, on the other hand, can and most definitely will chill him out. That whole 'My body and cloak can swallow people up' thing is just creepy.

Dagger... has longrange attacks, and never goes around without Cloak, so attacking one means you attack the other as well. However, she's comparatively much more harmless than her caped friend. Her light daggers only have effects on drug addicts, IIRC.

That said, I don't even want to know how much it'd hurt if those daggers tried to purify Kyuubi's chakra. Probably enough to make Naruto have nightmares for months afterwards. But that's speculation.


	6. Love and Death II

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto nor Marvel… MEINOS SMASH

**No Reading**

**Chapter4:**** Chronicles of Love and Death**

"Ah, no! Not this time!"

"If you can dodge." Naruto did a somersault… And then jumped right towards her. This surprised her. That was his way of not getting his nose cut off again? But he was right. A risky manoeuvre, that was sure, but it had had effect. What surprised her is that he had been able to get the timing right. He used his hands to push himself off the ground and into the air just a fraction of second before she was to claw him in the chest. He jumped over her and landed a few meters behind. She stopped and turned around. "That was a good move."

"Told ya! I'm starting to get the hand of this!" He was indeed. She had calculated that while the first day he was only able to dodge, statistically, 10 attacks out of 100, now he was dodging 30 of them out of the same amount. In just six days, it was something impressive. It was the result of a few factors. The first thing was the fast learning of Naruto. He was like a sponge, absorbing everything. The second thing was having her as an opponent. She wasn't to kill him, but she sure was trying to make the experience as painful as possible for him. And yet… He wasn't resentful at all. "Ah, it's finally lunch time. And it's the end for today too."

"…" Another incredible thing was his endurance. She and Wolverine weren't easily outmatched and most of the time didn't show it, but this guy... He was inhuman and 'inmutant' as well. She took a deep breath. "Try to eat vegetables as well. A lack of fibres is unhealthy for your body functions."

"Eheheh. Alright, alright…" Naruto smiled. Laura had just said an unnecessary thing. He knew that it wasn't out of worry. Just a mere consideration on his eating habits, but, it was, as he said, unnecessary. Not a need if she wanted to stay detached. It was something. Not everything… But something. Now she was even relaxing whenever he touched her, like the arm he had just put upon her shoulders to fake-strangle her. "Come on. We have to hit the showers and then the cafeteria."

"Indeed."

--

Elsewhere, in Connecticut, another youngster was about to engage in similar physical activity for all the wrong reasons in the world, and it would bring to direst consequences in years.

"_Okay, how many super-villains are we talking here, Speedball?"_

"Three. No, wait." He observed his surroundings better. "I think I see Coldheart in the backyard emptying the trash." He made his math. "That's four of 'em in total, and all four are on the FBI most-wanted list, right?"

"_Cobalt-Man, Coldheart, Speedfreek, Nitro… Yep. They all broke out of Ryker's three months back, and all of them have records as long as your arm. Coldheart fought Spider-Man a coup__le of times, and—get this—Speedfreek almost took down The Hulk."_

"He what?!" Night Thrasher had the most natural reaction. The Hulk. The freaking Hulk. Anyone who could go toe to toe with the green giant and come out of it alive was of merit, but almost taking him down… Microbe voiced the next natural line of thought.

"These guys are totally out of our league, man. No way we should be going in there." And he was right. His foster father approved. But they would listen to the voice of the leader. Speedball. The leader is usually the charismatic one. He is the one who takes decisions. But the problem is, leaders take decision following tactics, weighting risks, dangers, advantages, using strategy and common sense…

"But think about the ratings, Microbe. This could be the best episode of the entire second season." While this one took the decision he would come to regret for his whole life by his thirst for share points.

--

"…"

"Why are you so mad?"

"I'm just… Irritated. I can't be upset at you for something you don't even understand it's wrong, can I, now?" Naruto sighed. It was pointless. But it unnerved him a little that he was the only one embarrassed because of that situation. Laura had no shame because she didn't know the meaning of the feeling. He had already let pass the fact that they were both showering in the males' side. But then he ran out of shampoo and asked Laura if she could give him some of her own one… The girl had just walked into the shower instead of simply passing it over the wall. He was still blushing, and this didn't go unnoticed by the other occupants at the table. "Cessily, stop laughing and pass the damn salt."

"…" Sooraya was blushing in Laura's place, it seemed. She did not approve of such behaviour. That was one of the reasons that had led to Nori requesting to room alone yet again. "So… Shameful…"

"Tell me about it! Oh, shit! The thing opened!" Cessily got another laugh while Noriko and David contained themselves. Santo was plainly barking out loud. It was nice. Naruto had this thing to him. Something that just made easier to laugh when he was around. Cessily loved this about him. Lunch was what she was looking forward to the most, those days. Well, it was also when he saw the most of Naruto. He always had breakfast in a hurry. It was no mystery that mister Logan was putting him through a rough training along with his sister. And in the afternoon and evening, it was her time to train in the Danger Cave or whatever David called it.

"You really are stupid. You're ruining the image of Japanese people all around." Said Noriko. It was nice to tease someone who could reply without getting too angry or just shut up.

"I'm not Japanese, so, I don't see the problem…"

--

"Could we cut out the part where she called me the Bondage Queen?"

"Oh, yeah. Because Night Thrasher sounds so much straighter." He really loved his foster father, but really. Maybe Bondage Queen would have been a better choice, given his costume. No matter. Focus on the enemy whose armour you're rusting that is at your feet. "Got my bacterial beasties rusting Cobalt Man if anyone wants to track down that old Captain Marvel villain."

"Not to worry, Microbe." They were done with Coldheart. She was the one who could get to him the faster, so she took flight. In a couple of seconds, she was above him. In another two… "I'm on it." Her fists were in his back, hammering his face into a schoolbus.

Now, if one had to take lessons from anyone about being a superhero, that would be Spiderman. The wall-crawler is probably the one who knows all the parameters vital to this job. There are a few important ones, but the most important is: 'Our job is to fight super-villains, but our mission is to protect the people they want to hurt'.

"On your feet, Nitro. And don't try any of your stupid explosions because that's only going to make me hit you harder."

So, the New Warriors would take an F in super-heroism. Because they had engaged ruthless criminals with far more experience than them.

"Namorita, right? Aren't you the Submariner's cousin or something?" Nitro didn't get back on his feet. He didn't need to. Why disturb himself? That, and the girl sure could hit. "Well, I'm afraid we're not the bargain basement losers you guys are used to, baby…"

Because they had engaged them in the middle of a highly populated zone. Near a school.

"You're playing with the big boys, now."

Because Namorita should have knocked him out while he was on the ground. Not give him some more seconds of fighting for the sake of taunts and ratings. A few seconds were all that he needed. And then the world turned white and red.

--

"Then, what about… Uh?" Naruto had noticed something out of the corner of his eyes. Something far, at the horizon. Like… A light different from the usual one. Like another sun was suddenly appearing. That because Westchester county and Stamford, Connecticut, aren't that far away from each other. The blonde pointed his right index finger at the thing. "Guys, do you see that?"

"…" Laura was the first one to react and immediately started analyzing the 'light'. It was indeed a very strong light, produced by a strong process of combustion. But it wasn't a second sun. The light wasn't that bright, and the colour was somewhat reddish. It was… "That's an explosion."

"Eh?! An…" Naruto turned his head to Laura in a flash, than back to the light. An explosion? That big ass… "But… To be that big, even if on the horizon… I mean, that explosion must be enormous!"

"…" David adjusted his glasses. "If it really is an explosion, the television will say something about it for sure in an hour max."

--

"_Emergency teams are already heading in mass towards the place along with various super-humans. The Avengers are heading to Stamford right now as we speak. First estimates give a victim count of 500, but many believe it's going to go up."_

"My god…" It was like the whole school was inside the common room in front of the TV. Yes, the students had had been going away, emptying the school day after day, but it still was crowded in there. Not that Naruto could blame them. He himself was glued to the screen. An explosion of… A big radius that had happened in the middle of a city, right next to a school. Victims, destruction, carnage…

"We're coming too!"

"No. And that's final." Hellion was arguing with Wolverine and Cyclops about the fact that while some of the teachers were going to Stamford to help with the emergency, the students were to be confined inside the school and not move an inch.

"Well, at least take me! I'm a telekinetic, right?! I believe there's much rubble to move, there!"

"Boy, the problem is that you've got the power, but you haven't got the mind. The guts." Hellion was about to retort again, but Logan cut it off. "It will be like a freaking battlezone, there. Charred skeletons, bodies, injured people. What they need is help, and people who can follow the orders of people like doctors and firemen. But you can't do that, because you would be too occupied vomiting your soul out. And we can't afford that."

"… Tsk." Hellion turned around and stormed off, resuming his place by the couch. Then Wolverine turned in the same he direction he walked to.

"Kiddo." Naruto immediately turned his head around. Logan made a sign with his head. "You're coming with us."

"… Say what?" Naruto turned to the TV and then back to Logan, while a lot of people in the room, Laura included, turned to him. The ninja then pointed to himself with his right thumb. "Me? I'm coming?"

"Do you see anyone else in here who can create 4000 copies of himself and has had to clear the floor from his own digits and saw inner organs, including his lung, regrow? Move your ass. You have to dress up too."

"A-Alright…" Naruto got up from his seating position in a few seconds, and walked to Wolverine under the stares of the whole room. And then, he became aware of something else. "Wait a minute. What do you mean 'dress-up'?"

--

Black and orange. It was like a curse. But he liked orange. So, he liked the new outfit. And on top of that, he had finally found out what had happened to his forehead protector. At least the metal. Incredibly, it didn't got melted during his transformation. They had picked it up and integrated in his new costume.

It was a sleeveless tunic, made out of spandex… No, it wasn't spandex. It was something else. Whatever. A sleeveless tunic in vertical stripes, black and orange. Except for the spot on his belt with the X. And another point. Right over his heart. It was a metal plate made out of what was left of his forehead protector, and he still couldn't understand how it hadn't disappeared, and some other kind of metal. And it was so light and flexible… What exactly was he wearing? It was like it was no cloth at all. A second skin. Whatever. To complete the outfit there was a couple of gloves and boots, same material, orange in colour, and… Googles. Black googles, similar to the ones he had seen David wear. This one had the function of transmitting the images they 'saw' and linking to other visors of the same kind that operated on the same frequency, other than providing infra-red vision, night-vision and various other kinds of visions, had said Wolverine while he changed.

Then, another thing came as a shocker. The X-Men's airplane. He didn't manage to get the name, but that was probably the most hi-tech thing he had ever seen and set foot on. Wolverine had to nudge him to make him stop standing like an idiot and step inside. Two more nudges to make him sit and put on the obviously X-Shaped seatbelts. And now…

"Taking off."

"…" It really was true. The hangar of the thing was right under the basketball field. They were in the air in a matter of seconds. And then the plane started moving at high speed. Naruto swallowed when suddenly Emma and Cyclops started talking.

"I suppose you're asking yourself why we brought you with us, Naruto." Scott's words. Naruto nodded, even if he couldn't really see him.

"A-Actually, yes, I do. I mean…"

"Because of two things. The first thing, like Logan said, you're used to seeing things like bodies and blood. And most of all, you're used to follow orders, being a ninja." Somewhere, Jounin teachers suddenly felt the need to laugh their ass off. But Cyclops didn't know that. "But most of all, because of your ability. In case like this, numbers are important. And believe me when I say that there's no one on this planet who can make thousands of copies of himself in a couple of seconds without suffering from serious drawbacks."

"Ah. Alright." Emma took words. And Naruto felt that familiar feeling in his head. Telepathy.

"I'm 'loading' in your brain everything about first aid should you come by injured people in the middle of the site. Review them. Because we're arriving in 15 minutes."

"S-So little?! Wow!" _This thing is fast!_

"One last thing." Cyclops again. He actually turned his head around. "Since you're going to be associated with us, try to not do anything strictly necessary. Your copies will make you the center of attention already. Don't say your name. Use your 'super-alias'."

"Alright. Got… … Wait. Wait a minute…" Naruto raised an eyebrow. What the hell was he talking about? "I have a super-alias?"

"Since this morning." Wolverine wanted to break the news to him. He cleared his voice, ready to mock some Shakespeare. "From this day onward, thou shall be known as…"

--

"No. I still can't believe it."

"Shall I go and show you the records of the danger room's camera?" Anole excused himself. Bathroom waited for his lunch to come and join the secret sewers' underworld. He believed what Laura had told them about her training sessions with Naruto. Santo had gotten somewhat used to those kind of stories. He just turned a bit green. Yes. He's made of rock but he turned green nonetheless. "I suppose not."

"Hmmm… I can understand why Mister Logan decided to bring him along, then. I've gotten green myself just by seeing Laurie's arm…"

"Reduce to look like a tree trunk, Cess?" Cessily turned around and gasped. And then basically threw herself to Laurie. The blonde sported a bandaged arm, but she still was the same as before she went to infirmary. "I missed walking too, Cess."

"Oh, god. You don't know how much I wanted to see you out of that bed…" Cess separated herself from Laurie to observe her and took a hold of her damaged arm, gently. "This… Why?"

"Josh is working on it." Laurie offered Cess a small smile. She accepted her worry, but no sympathy, please. Needed to change the conversation. She had just the topic. There was a new guy when the mutants had suddenly gone into shortage, right? "So… Where's this new guy Josh has told me about?"

"Currently, he's on the CNN." Cess turned around. It was David who had just talked. He was the one coordinating the channel zapping to get the most out of everything. "Listen." David raised the audio.

"… _unknown superhuman wearing the X-Men's standard attire. At first we believed it to be some new task-force, but the circa two thousand individuals __wear the same identical clothes and have the same identical face, and are helping the Red Cross and the other humanitarian teams all over Stamford."_ The camera zoomed to a group of four Naruto raising a huge piece of wall, letting two firemen pull out a survivor out of it. His legs crushed. _"We will approach one of the 'copies' to talk with it. Excuse me!"_

"Aww, man! I totally wanted to go too!"

--

Fortunately for the journalist, one of the three Naruto was the real deal. Not that it was possible for the most of the people around to tell the original apart from the one. And he remembered that Wolverine had said that they would probably come to him once they noticed he was all over the place. So, he used the words he was told to use.

"I'm really occupied, as you can see. But I suppose I can spare a few words, seeing as I'm just one out of two thousands." He wiped his gloves off and raised his goggles. His face remained serious, though. The reported held the mic near her mouth.

"Sarah Connor, CNN News. We have a few questions for yourself. Are you a mutant?"

"I'm a student at the Xavier's. What do you think?" He smiled a bit to accentuate his vein of sarcasm. "Yes, I'm a mutant. I'm not a member of the regular team, but I've been brought here to help because of one of my abilities. I'll leave it to you to find out which one."

--

"There is so going to be a fan-club of him on the internet by the end of the day."

"Nori, shhh!"

--

"So, you have other abilities other than multiplying yourself?"

"A few others. You may have noticed I'm stronger than a normal person as well." Saying that, he picked up a piece of debris and crushed it to dust. He had to use a bit of chakra and he hurt himself, but he managed to kept his smile. "One more reason for me being there instead of here in front of a camera. There could be still survivors, and if people who can get killed by falling debris are out there, I can't just stay here talking. I'm sorry."

"Just one last question. Your name."

"My name?" Naruto had learned that speech and the facial movements needed so well that he was almost having fun. Almost. He turned around and used a single hand to make two more Bunshins appear by his side in a puff of smoke. The three turned their heads around slowly, exposing their smiles. "Militia."

--

"'_Cause I can be many."_

"Oh, for the love of… He got even an original catchphrase fitting his character! They just gave us names!"

"Santo, I think he made that one out on his own."

"… So, that's him." Laurie turned to the chuckled Cessily, and she had noticed that she was looking at the television with a different stare than the other people in the room. "And you're going to tell me everything that's been going on between the two of you." Cess bonked Laurie playfully on the head. "Hey, I've just recovered!"

"If you can joke around on my love life, you indeed have."

"… What's a love-life?" Cessily turned around along with Laurie. Laura had asked that question. From what little she knew of the black haired girl, she knew she was a little strange. But from that to not knowing what a love-life was… Well, Naruto had said she had had some kind of difficult childhood and such. Alright. Time to take action.

"Want to come with us? We were thinking of taking something to eat in our room."

"…" Laura, recently, had come to think on these lines, when faced with social interactions. 'What would Naruto do?'. So, she replied. "Why not."

--

"Militia. Cool name. Better than Whiskers Sexy Foxy."

"We were thinking of Legion, but that was the name of the professor's son. And that did not end well."

"Hold it still." When all the biggest superheroes in the country know each other and are all in the same place it's not unusual if you find yourself doing small talk with one of them. Currently, Wolverine and Cyke were talking with Spiderman while they were removing kilos after kilos of debris and cutting metal bars. Peter had a nice memory. And even if the goggles were pretty cool, he had immediately recognized the kid that was hanging out with Wolverine in the sushi bar. "Well, I think it's more fitting than Legion. The term militia is commonly used today to refer to a military force composed of ordinary citizens to provide defense, emergency law enforcement, or paramilitary service, in times of emergency."

"Man, you've been hanging around Reed Richards and Tony too much time, wall-crawler." Wolverine cut the other end of the metallic ledge with his right claws. Then, he smirked. "But… Apart the 'ordinary citizen' bit, yes. It's in tone with the kid's character. Did I tell you that during a spar he willingly got himself hit by a volley of sharp objects to protect the audience?"

"No. You haven't told me anything about him, aunt Mary." Spiderman raised the piece of debris high above their heads and moved it. Good, old, spider-strength. "I was about to think you wanted to keep the boy a secret."

"Hey, Cyclops! We need some help over here!" Cyclops turned around. Two firemen were calling for him. Motion detectors are picking something up twenty feet down, but we haven't got our diggers yet."

"Will two-hundreds pair of hands do?" Cyclops was about to say the same thing, but the direct subject of the matter… Well, the direct subjects, had taken initiative. The fire-man looked around and whistled.

"I think they will do nicely. Just pick up the rocks and throw them over there."

"Alright." The group of Naruto made various lines, passing each one to the other rock after rock, while a group of six of them moved the more heavy ones. Spiderman observed everything.

"And not because of his abilities, dude. And that's saying something, since he seems to be a Madrox on steroids with half a Cap in it."

"Hey! There are people down here! I heard their voices!" All the Naruto gathered near the last rocks covering whatever was under there and lifted everything in one final feat of strength. Once the passage was cleared out, another one jumped down there, activating the night vision of his visor. He looked around. There were five kids, one of which wrapped in a blanket, unconscious, and an old man. "There are six of them! One kid is unconscious!"

"He… He hit his head… I…" Naruto slowly picked the unconscious kid from the adult man.

"It's alright. Help's here, now." Naruto climbed the stairs back up and fortunately he found the paramedics already on the place. He handed the unconscious kid to them and then helped the others climb out of the canteen or whatever it was. He was fairly sure it was a building on school grounds. He noticed that the girl was walking in a strange way. Like she couldn't… Twisted or broken ankle. First aid.

He picked a blanket from one of the paramedics and walked to the girl, kneeling in front of her. "Hey, mind letting me see your ankle?" The girl shook her head slowly. Naruto made motion with his hand for hear to sit on the ground in front of him. He slowly removed her shoe and sock, and began to touch the ankle to check if it was indeed broken. Fortunately, it seemed like it was just twisted. He turned around, and he was met with a roll of bandages. Seems like those paramedics took their job seriously. He didn't even need to ask. But he thanked them nonetheless. He raised his head to smile at the young girl again. Since she wasn't smiling at all, he smiled for the both of them. "I need to bandage your ankle really tight, or it could get swollen. It could hurt a bit." He then returned his attention to the roll of bandages. _One above, one below, crossing… Right._

"… Mister…" She was talking, finally. Naruto snorted.

"Hey, I'm just 16. I'm like, 5 years older than you."

"… Why?" Naruto's hands frozen on the spot, and slowly raised his head up. The face of that little girl… She wasn't angry. She wasn't sad. She was… Empty. She just wanted to know something. A simple question. Why? Why had that happened? Why did an explosion took away her school, her friends, maybe her family and almost her life? Why? And Naruto felt powerless, because he just didn't know what to tell her. He just knew that it had been because of someone with superpowers. He hung his head low, shaking it slowly, returning his attention to the bandages.

"… What's your name?" He suddenly asked.

"Mary…" She replied.

"Where's your family?"

"My… My dad works in another county. He comes home for week-ends. My mom works… On the other side of the city." Naruto breathed out a sigh of relief that he didn't know to be holding in. He finished with the bandage.

"Good. Then, listen Mary." He raised his head. His face no longer smiling. But deadly serious. "I don't know who or why, I'm sorry. But I will know. Hell, I bet you will hear it from the television before I do. But when I know…" He suddenly smiled a little and raised his right hand in a thumbs up. "If someone hasn't already done so, I promise I will find them and punish them. Alright? Man, I bet that every super-hero in the whole country will be on their tail."

"…" The girl didn't seem very convinced. Naruto sighed… And then had an idea. He picked something out of his pocket. One of the various pieces of paper on which he had written his e-mail. He kept on forgetting it. Layla had given him her own one along with her phone number. He handed it to the girl.

"Here. This is my e-mail." The girl slowly grabbed it from Naruto's hands. "So, if you're still angry or sad, you can yell at me and tell me bad words." He winked at the girl… Whose lips raised a little at the angles. He grinned. Found her weak spot. She liked to say bad words. He helped her back on her feet. "Now go with these men. They will take you somewhere less depressing and then bring you back to your family."

"… Thanks." He handed the girl to the medic and waved at her with one hand while they took her away along with her friends and the old man. He then breathed in deeply.

"To think that I would see something like this two times in less than four years…"

"Be grateful you were not there in World War II, son." Naruto, hearing a new voice suddenly near to him, turned around in a flash. "I saw things like this almost daily."

"..." Naruto observed the man in front of him, and he just didn't know what to make of the feeling it was giving off. The man had just shared a few words and was just walking towards him, but… Just the way he walked, the tone of his voice, even the way he carried that shield around… It gave away authority, power, strength. He didn't know what else. And like always, Naruto's impressions gave way to him saying the right words… "Ehm… Who are you?"

To say that Steve and everyone else around was surprised was an understatement. It didn't matter if you were from another country. Who the hell in the world didn't know what Captain America looked like?! Naruto noticed it, and started looking around, and he suddenly felt very stupid. Just for that. He scratched the back of his head.

"Ehm… I feel like I just said something really, really stupid. Like there's no way in hell I shouldn't know your face and attire, sir." Steve allowed himself a smile and extended to Naruto his hand.

"Well, just because I'm one of the first super-humans that ever appeared on this planet and an icon of the United States of America doesn't mean that everyone in the world should know me. Captain America, member of the Avengers." Not one to boast. He felt always a comrade to his fellow Avengers, even if many called him the leader. Naruto extended his hand too and shook it. And he almost felt it crumble. He had to use chakra to just shake that man's hand? What the hell?

"Ehm, Militia. Student at the Xavier's." Then, it occurred to him. "Avengers? Like, the other team Logan is in?"

"Exactly. You seem to know Logan well, at least." Naruto broke the handshake and grinned.

"Well, not really. He just keeps on scaring me and he's sorta training me."

"…" Steve raised an eyebrow. Logan training someone personally? That couldn't be any good for the trainee's psyche. "Are you traumatized yet?"

"I'm on the way to therapy, sir." Naruto blinked. What… He raised his head. "Hey, funny."

"What is it?"

"I don't why, but…" He crossed his arms while keeping on staring at the older man's face. "I'm instinctively inclined to add 'sir' at the end of the sentence." Steve this time allowed himself to laugh, much to Naruto's shock. "Ehm, did I say something stupid again?"

"No, not really." Cap put a hand on Naruto's left shoulder and patted him. "Well, keep up the good work, soldier." He then walked away the same way he arrived. Naruto just felt the need to say…

"Y-Yes, sir!" And then to tilt his head to the right side. _What the… Ah, forget it! Nice shield, though._

--

"Impressions?"

"He's a good kid. Maybe a bit too soft." Captain America was 'reporting' to Tony his talk with the mystery that was the new kid at the Xavier's. Ever since Peter had told him that the boy had arrived along with the X-Men, he was keeping an eye on him. And what he saw made him curious but at the same time worried him. Ability to form a small army without his body crashing like happened to Madrox. Super-human variable levels of strength, speed and agility. And he seemed used to scenes like that. And from what Steve had just told him, he had already seen something similar at least once. "He's the kind of person who easily gets emotionally involved. Favouring the life of companions and innocent bystanders to the mission's result. Not a good soldier. But a good superhero, if it comes to that."

"Still… I can't shake off that there's something dangerous about him. Or at least, something that Strange and the X-Men are hiding from me… From us."

"Even if that is the case, Strange isn't irresponsible or careless." Cap knew better than not to trust Strange. Especially after M-Day, the man had become almost paranoid about his mission to protect their dimension from further harm. "And after all, better leave mutants to mutants. Right, Tony?"

"Not always." This caught Cap's attention. Something that he didn't know, probably. Well, even if he was able to see the inner of a man's soul, he didn't have Tony's technology. That was probably the reason he had asked him to get a hair of the boy. He handed it to Tony. The man in the red armour put the strand of organic matter in a small hole he had opened in his armour. After a few seconds, the display inside of his mask submitted the results. "… No reading."

"That means?"

"In words outside the techie vocabulary, it means that the computer cannot identify that boy's DNA with any humanoid species on this planet." At Steve's surprised face, Tony just reacted by displaying the complete report. "But… There's a 50 match with the Mutant Genome."

"… Now I understand how come he didn't know my face."

"That's all the proof I need to say that the boy is an alien."

--

"Anf… Anf… We're… It's all… Done?"

"What we could do, yes, it is." _And he probably didn't notice that his presence alone halved the time needed._ It really was something. But more of the numbers, the endurance the kid possessed. Even Cap had to take a break at a certain point. The boy hadn't stopped till the whole disaster site had been checked out for survivors. And that meant that he hadn't slept or rested for more than 36 hours. Now he was finally showing signs of exhaustion. "It's time to head back to the school, kiddo."

"Ah, alright… Then… I have to… My copies…" Naruto was about to make a hand-seal. Wolverine made a sign with his head to Emma, who put her hands on the side of Naruto's head. The blonde would have freaked out, considering what happened every time that woman played with his head. But he was too tired to care, to even notice the usual cold on his forehead, while he dispelled every clone alive in Stamford… He collapsed on the ground. Emma retracted her hands. Wolverine grunted.

"Is he going to be alright?"

"Yes. I made so that the memories from his copies got directly memorized without being seen by his conscious-self first." Wolverine took the limp form of the blonde boy from the ground, and put it on his right shoulder. "He will still retain those memories, but… He will not remember remembering them."

"And that's good. Not all his copies have been finding survivors and nursing little girls. Most of them had to bring out of the debris corpses. And pieces of corpses."

--

"_Look at this one. The only thing left i__s his head and part of his neck"_

"_Come on! Breath, damn it! Breath!"_

"_This one is long gone…"_

"_Mom! Mooooooooom!"_

"… Nnnh… Ah." Naruto slowly fluttered his eyes open. And he found himself staring in a couple of silver eyes. Yep. Silver. And he didn't know why, a joke came to his mind. "We have to stop meeting like this, Clarice… They will think we're lovers." And as a clear reply, Cess kissed him on the forehead.

"Good morning, sleepy-head." Naruto was sure his cheeks had become slightly crimson, even if he currently felt somewhat cold. It was probably because he was all drenched in sweat. "Was it so tiring?"

"Well, put it like this… It's like I got the tiredness of 2000 who have all been working for 36 hours non-stop all at the same time. Good thing that I heal whatever injury and tiredness with just a night of sleep." He said, sighing and closing his eyes again, while crossing his arms behind his head.

"Must be useful with girls, hn? Along with the fact that you multiply…"

"You have no idea… Eh…" Naruto just realized what he had said. Cessily had the decency to blush as much as him and turn around. "Ehm, I mean… I tried it just a couple times… Oh, give me a break!"

"Well… I suppose you're not a virgin, hn?"

"I am! I just… You know, she wanted a massage. Nothing more." Naruto blushed even further. Curse you, puberty and pretty girls of the elemental countries. Cessily giggled.

"Well, how are you feeling?"

"As I said, I'm good. Just pretty embarrassed, right now." He sat in the bed. He checked the clock. 11 AM. _That's why I'm so hungry. I skipped breakfast… That, and I haven't eaten much in Stamford._

"…" _Come on, Cess. You can do it. You actually kissed him. Well, on the forehead, but that's the point._ Cessily cleared her voice and turned to him again. "Then, what do you say if…"

_I'm the Scatman!_

"What the…" Naruto and Cessily both turned to the source of the noise. A cellphone. Naruto's cellphone. That he didn't remember buying. The ID was even stranger. 'I know'… Naruto rolled his eyes. "Just a second." He picked up the call. "Hello, there?"

"_Play dumb. You're talking with Jamie right now."_

"Hi, Jamie." Naruto played along. From what little he had learned about Layla, he had learned that she knew stuff. So, listen to what she says. "Why the sudden call? No, scratch that. Where did the phone come from?"

"_Jamie. I sorta blackmailed him into buying you one. So, I'm calling you for this evening's date."_

"I didn't remember we had that kind of agreement."

"_Me neither. We can remedy that, though. How about you pick me up at eight o' clock? Ask Wolverine about that other thing I sent along with the phone.__ Black market stuff."_ Naruto rolled his eyes. What a strange girl. And stranger him that went along with everything.

"Alright, alright. I'll see you later, then."

"_One more thing. Tell her 'Seems like today I'm all booked. But what about tomorrow evening?'__ and 'What were you going to ask?'. Wink wink. Bye."_ She hang up. Naruto blinked. That girl really… Whatever. Ok. So, he had a date with her, and… Tell her 'Seems'… Ah. He got it. He closed the phone's lid. "Sorry about that. Seems like today I'm all booked. But what about tomorrow evening?"

"E-Eh?" Cessily blinked. She hadn't even asked, how could he… No, he was probably talking about something else. "What are you talking about?"

"What were you going to ask?" Wink wink. He actually winked. Cessily actually blushed. Her cheeks' mercury turned red. He really was talking about that. And he was teasing her. What a… She shook her head, smiling.

"I waaaaas about to ask if you wanted to go out with me." Naruto was seriously freaking out. Layla Miller, what's wrong with your head? "So, I guess… Tomorrow at eight?"

"Be pretty. Not that you are not right now."

"Alright. Go back to sleep, playboy." Cessily shoved him back on the bed strong enough to surprise him while she ran out of the door, holding her hands crossed over her chest. She felt warm. But wasn't it supposed to be a thing because of blood circulation? So, she wasn't supposed to… Know what? She really didn't care. She felt like when she had joined the cheerleading team in High School. On top of the world.

Naruto scratched his head. What was with the girls in that world? … Well, the same thing that was with the girls from his own world… Wait a minute. _What if it isn't the girls? What if… It's me?_ "…" Naruto thought about it for a few seconds… He shrugged his shoulders. "Naaaah. Well, let's get to a good shower." Naruto jumped down from the bed… And he screamed like a little girl when he felt a hand grabbing his ankle. He jumped on his bed and stood on all fours like a cat. "WHO THE HELL IS UNDER MY BED?!"

"… It's me."

"…" Naruto observed the figure who slowly crawled out from under his bed… And then just had to ask. "Laura… If you wanted to wait for me to wake up, you could have just taken a chair or something."

"It was to hide better in case of having to sneak attack an eventual enemy." Naruto palmed his own face.

"Let me guess. Wolverine told you to 'watch over me' and you took it the military way."

"… You're… Going out with Cessily?" Naruto blinked. He had almost already forgot.

"Yes, seems like it. Even if I don't really know… What's wrong?" Naruto noticed that Laura's face had suddenly tensed. And why had she pulled out one of her claws?

"… I don't really know."

"…" Naruto wanted to use the claws of the girl to stab himself in the brain and see if that healing factor was really that effective. Three girls. Three. In the arc of less of a month. What was with him and women ever since he hit… Puberty… _… Oh, god… Maybe it wasn't such a stupid idea, then…_ He shook his head. Better to focus on the matter at hand. A jealous Laura. "By the way… I don't really know what to do on Sunday evening."

"…" She raised her head. Her claw was still there.

"And I heard from Logan that you love Jackie Chan movies."

"… I do not."

"Alright. I made that up. The point is, want to go see Rush Hour 3, this Sunday night?"

"…" This time, Laura couldn't use the 'What would Naruto do' thing. So, she had to decide for herself. But the problem is, she didn't understand what was going on with her. She only knew that Naruto had probably been the nicest person she had ever met. She had hurt him a lot, but he never got mad at him. Instead… It seemed like he got attached to her more and more as the days passed. And she… What did she felt? "… I… I would like to go."

"Perfect! Then, gotta go take a shower, now! And no, you can't come!" He suddenly put his right hand on her head and brushed it a little, softly, before shooting himself out of the room at high speed. Laura was left sitting on his bed, with a sudden feel of warmth on her cheeks and on her head, where he had touched her.

--

"A tele-what?"

"Teleporter. It moves you instantly to another place, kiddo." He had repeated the word in three different ways already, but the boy still hadn't got it down in memory's lane. The thing had arrived along with the cellphone right when they were coming back from Stamford. The mailman had an heart attack when he saw their jet land. "This is a bit special, though. It's connected just to two places. Layla's place, and the front door of the school."

"Ah, understood. So, I just gotta push this green button, here. Nice. Thanks again, Logan."

"No 'Don't tell anyone I'm going out with X-Factor's youngest member'?"

"If you do they will probably think of Rahne. And we don't want that, right?" Naruto raised an eyebrow in Logan's direction, who had suddenly found his claws to be very interesting. "RIGHT?" Logan snorted and patted him on the back just a bit more forceful than needed.

"Just push the damn button and go."

"Alright, alright…" Naruto pushed the button and blinked. He was in front of the X-Factor's building. "I was expecting something more… Tele-worthy."

"No tunnels in the fabric of space and time, sorry." He turned around in a flash. He still hadn't gotten used that people in that world had a habit of waiting for him or hiding in strange places or appear right out of the blue. He shook his head and smiled, observing her, sat on the steps of the building on his left. "Bet you were expecting a tunnel."

"Hmmm… You're exactly like I remember you."

"You accusing me of wearing the same clothes all the time, jumpsuit boy?"

"I will not ask how you know that. That, and I bet you have, like, seven sets of the same clothes to wear. One for each day of the week." She just chuckled while he offered her a hand to get her back on her feet. She gave herself a little more push to kiss him on the lips. He got a bit surprised and then sighed dreamily. "You know… I'm not really used to this…"

"I could tell." She took a hold of his left hand and squeezed it gently. "What about we talk about it over something to eat?" Naruto smiled back.

"Sounds great to me."

_Continue…_

_In the next chapter…_

Three dates with three different girls. Naruto has probably never been so quite and calm… And of course, he starts asking himself if he has right to right when things start looking very good. And on top of that, the three dates are followed by three core-shaking events. Stay tuned.


	7. Childhood's End I

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto nor Marvel… MEINOS SMASH

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto nor Marvel… MEINOS SMASH.

**No Reading**

**Chapter5:**** Chronicles of Love and Death, Act II**

"And then I tried to buy the horse a prostitute."

"You've been reading too much online comics. And you've been here just for a month."

"That says much on the power of internet. But we need to hail curry too." Naruto had found something he liked almost as much as Ramen. He had never tasted curry in his whole life. And he had been missing something. The spicy thing with white rice and chicken… Hmmm. Papillae orgasm. Oh, and coke. Less than a month and he already was a coke addict like 80 of the planet. "Well, jokes apart, what do you think about my life?"

"Pretty messed up. I'm an orphan too, but they didn't hate me or made me feel like I was inexistent. Being completely ignored is even worse than being picked on, hn?"

"You have no idea." Naruto picked out some more rice. It really felt nice. Having dinner with a pretty girl, eating good food, getting an eyeful of gorgeous waitresses with the risk of incurring in the pretty girl's wrath… It was good. It gave him a warm feeling in his chest. Being normal. Because in that world there was shit stranger than demons. And even if he went rage-on because of the Kyuubi, he would just be another super-villain, in Logan's opinion. Nothing special when there were people eating worlds out there. And that was why… He felt a little guilty. "You know, I wonder if this is alright…"

"What do you mean?" Naruto raised an eyebrow. He was expecting her to come up with a smart remark about the subject on which she would have had an inner debate with herself already. She just smiled and leaned her head on her right palm. "I know stuff. I don't know everything."

"… Right. Sorry." He chuckled. What he had just thought about stranger people than him? He then returned to smile sadly. "I mean… I just feel like it's not right for me to enjoy my life like this, even if it's probably the first time."

"Why do you say that?" Naruto turned to her, that smile still on his face.

"Even if I don't show it much, I'm enjoying this place and the kind of life that I lead here much more than what I usually did back home. I have a nice place where I live and friends who manage to lead a somewhat normal life even if they're made out of mercury and 'know stuff'." She chuckled at that. "There are no people after my neck… Yet. But for things I've not even done or that I have never wanted. I'm not a monster to most of the world anymore… I'm just one of the many super-humans. No missions, no missing nins, not having to work my butt off for just showing people that I exist… They already know just by laying their eyes on me. Hell, even if I went rogue, I would just be a 'normal threat', since they deal with much worse than demons, around here."

"… And yet?" She asked. She understood that the root of the problem was about to come out.

"And yet…" Naruto scratched the top of his nose. "Back home, my mere presence in my village was a threat to the people I befriended because people much more powerful than me or most of them wanted my life and what I have in my belly for something that would not do any good to the world. So, if I came back there, it would be back to fighting all day and danger, and war. If I stay here, the bad guys would be clueless. They couldn't do whatever they wanted to do and sooner or later, I'm sure that they would be taken down. Anyone would say: 'You enjoy there, we enjoy having less of a thing out of our hair, stay there. Nice knowing ya'. But… I still hope that Strange will sooner or later find how to send me back. I feel guilty because I want to go back home. I feel like I'm doing something bad, both for the friends I have back home and the one I made here."

"…" Layla listened. And tried to make something out of the boy's words. And was it difficult. But she did it. "Basically, you say that you want back home even though you know that it would mean being back on being a danger to others for just existing, and that you feel guilty because you feel like you're spitting in the face at your world and this one that is giving you a good time. Is that right?"

"…" Naruto sighed. "You summed it up quite nicely."

"… We're going for a walk."

--

And for a walk they went. Around mutant-town. Looking around, walking, Layla made Naruto observe his surroundings. She told him to pay particular attention to the people. After half an hour, they ended up in a park. And they sat on a bench. Naruto observed his surroundings there too. It was a nice park. No lake, but trees and not as dirty as he believed it would be from the outside. No one around. He turned to Layla.

"So? I've looked around." He said.

"What did you notice? About the people." He scratched his right cheek.

"Nothing much. They were all… Pretty normal people."

"That's exactly the point." Naruto raised an eyebrow. He found out he was doing that a lot, around Layla and Laura. Layla was swinging her legs off the bench, looking at the ground. "I first discovered my powers during the period this reality had been transformed by the Scarlet which. The M-Day."

"Ah." Naruto remembered Logan talking about it. Basically, he had said that some Avenger had lost control on her power and modified the world two times in a row. The first one was to morph the world into an Utopia for super-humans. The second time, she put the previous version of reality back… Only, with nearly all the mutants in the world without their powers.

"Sometimes I wish the world had stayed like it was." Naruto just did as she had done back in the Curry place. He leaned his right cheek on his right hand and observed her while she talked, her head to the sky. "We're talking about a world were mutants reigned supreme, having switched place with the mutants for the title of 'most hated and experimented-on race' of the century. But sometimes I wish it had stayed like that. Why? Because my parents were alive and I lived with them."

"…" Naruto didn't move. He just kept on listening. He knew that Layla was taking a 'dramatic effect' pause. She stopped swinging her legs and turned her head to him.

"What I mean…" She turned her body too. "Everything, including worlds… Especially worlds, have bad and good facets. To miss the good ones is perfectly normal." She then poked his forehead playfully, making him smile. "You just miss home, boy. Maybe not a perfect home, but you have friends there. Right? No reason to feel guilty about that."

"…" Naruto smiled even more. Then, he slowly cupped Layla's chin and kissed her on the lips. "You're not a mutant. You're an angel." She giggled and hugged him.

"Just because I saved you from going Emo on the world? And more importantly on me? Let's just say I had some interest in you keeping your cheerful face."

"Anything for you." It was going to be a good evening. And they scored a new record for the longest 'no-breathing making out session'. And believe it or not, Naruto was the one who gave out in the end.

--

"Alright. Green button, X-Factor. Red button, Xavier's. Got it." He wasn't saying it to no one else but himself. Because he had ended up in front of X-Factor's steps four more times after bidding Layla goodnight. And the girl each time pretended another goodnight kiss. And as much as he loved giving those kinds of goodnight kisses, he had to go back home, sooner or later. He slowly, silently opened the front door. The quickest way to the dorms was going through the main building first. He slowly closed it behind him. Good thing that sneakers were pretty silent. It was 1 AM. Not very late, but enough to give him detention. After all, Logan was the only one who knew…

"How did your date go?" He put a hand on his mouth to stop himself from screaming. He turned around in a flash in an instinctive battle guard. No one. He raised his head. There she was. Emma Frost. Headmistress. He was in so much trouble. "My compliments on being able to be that silent, Militia."

"Ehm…" He just had to ask. "Do I get detention?"

"You're not exactly a student of this school, are you? Also, I believe you're perfectly able to take care of yourself." Naruto blinked. He scratched the top of his head. She got a point. He wasn't studying much. Mostly training. "So, as long as you don't get back at the crack of dawn and without surprises, you're free to do what you want… In the limits dictated by common sense and responsibility, of course."

"Ehm… Yes, ma'am. Good night, ma'am." Naruto did a little bow and in his mind a voice emerged, asking… _What was all that about? 'Common sense and responsibility'? But if she keeps the whole school on a leash!_

"…" Emma didn't need telepathy to see that the boy was stranged out by her behaviour when he compared it to her usual one and what they said about her around the school. She shrugged it off. She had kept her end of the deal. And Scott's suffocated laughing wasn't going to affect her. Not at all. "Before you ask, Scott, no. I was so not going to tell him that Layla Miller blackmailed me into letting her smooch-buddy have freedom on the campus. No."

"Wait till Logan gets wind of this…"

--

"Repeat that again?"

"A suggestion from Emma. Since your clones can act independently from yourself, Emma wants you to make some clones each morning to study a subject while the real you trains with Laura." Naruto was weirded out. And then he frowned. He knew it. It was just too good for the white queen to be all hippie and lovy-forgivy. That was the punishment.

"I knew it…" Naruto rubbed his chin… Then, something came to his mind. Study a subject? Then… He grinned. "Logan, do I get to choose what to study?"

"She didn't say anything about that. So, I guess so." Replied Wolverine, crossing his arms over his chest. "Why do you ask?" Naruto just chuckled… Evilly. And he didn't know why, but it managed to give him a chill. To him. And that was saying something. Laura actually took a step back, defensively.

"Are there any musical instruments in the school?"

--

She had to admit. That boy was a dangerous, worthy opponent. She should have had to specify that he had to follow the normal classes, not study anything he wanted. For the whole morning, he had made like, 200 or so of his clones exercise themselves with various musical instruments. And guess what? The music hall was right under her office. And like there were levels of Super-Strength, there were levels of soundproofing. She had to telepathically isolate her ears from every noise to stop herself from going nuts. She was wondering if it was late to change its alias from 'Militia' to 'Noise'. Or 'One-Man-Band', since he had split equally his clones between drums, guitar, bass, keyboard and miscellaneous. She was sure she had heard maracas, at a certain point. She made her math, in four hours he had made 80 days of practice with each one of those instruments. She hoped that he would be satisfied with it, or that he hurried on reaching his set objective.

"Dear, Emma. What's with you? You seem…"

"Thanks for the concern, Hank. But it's nothing, rea…"

"Miss Frost!" She winched. His voice was like a knife in her ears. She slowly turned around, and the twitch on her forehead was pretty evident. The other teachers observed the scene… And then understood. Mostly because Logan had buried his face in his arms to suffocate his laughing.

"Yeeeeeeessssssssss, dear?"

"Well, I was wondering, is there a bigger room that I could use for my practice? I mean, I would like to further speed up my training." Emma was about to turn to diamond and punch the kid through his head. After all, he had a healing factor. He would heal. It just would hurt much… Then, she thought about it.

Speeding up would mean that he would finish earlier and no longer bother her poor ears and mind. Also, if he, like, made 2000 copies or so exercise themselves for 4 hours, he would be out for another one! A hour of perfect silence! And she just had the perfect place! She smiled.

"Well, dear. What about…"

--

"The X-Wing's hangar? For real?"

"I swear!" Anole said. They were all gathered around the sleeping form of Naruto. He had collapsed in the middle of the living room, on a couch, after he had dispelled all the clones he had immediately fell face first on it. They had moved it in a more comfortable position. The reptilian mutant continued his story. "I saw about 3000 of his clones in the hangar playing different instruments. Some were practicing singing as well."

"He's been out for about an hour… He should wake up soon, right?" Asked Cess, a little concerned. And maybe a little jealous too. The cuckoos were all around him, helping his head sort all the information a bit faster.

"Indeed. But it sure is incredible."

"He basically earned in just four hours…"

"2000 hours of training with each one of those instruments and singing."

"2000 hours?" Hellion scratched his nose, and started trying to do a bit of calculations. "That's like… Practicing two hours a day, it's like…"

"Basically, it's like he has been training for three years." Lots of awe and 'wow' and 'What?!' at David's words. Then, people suddenly shouted when Naruto's body shot forward, sitting on the couch. Mostly in surprise.

"Naruto… How do you feel?" Surprisingly, or maybe not, depending on the P.O.V., Laura was the one who asked Naruto how he felt. The blonde just kept on staring blankly at the air in front of him for a few seconds, before saying…

"… I… Wow. I remember everything. I know how to play Guitar, drums, to sing… Wow." He just said, stating it to himself, as strange as that can seem. Hellion snorted.

"Yeah, right… What about a demonstration if you're so sure about it?"

"…" Naruto turned to the telekinetic… And then smirked. He did a single hand-seal and a Kage Bunshin appeared. He said… "Bring me the guitar."

"Alright, boss!" The copy started walking towards the music hall, while Naruto, grinning, turned to the others.

"Hope you like English pop. I'm not Keith Richards, but I learned a couple of songs." Cessily rolled her eyes. Big deal. They would just have to wait another week.

--

"When you started playing George Michael, I thought that Hellion was going to cry."

"What's wrong with George Michael?! I like George Michael!"

"Nothing. It's just Julian who turns green every time he hears Faith." Cessily shook her head. In the end, they went out half an hour later than what they had said, because Naruto had taken a liking in playing the guitar to his audience. In the end, she managed to set him free from the clutches of fame and to make him follow her into the nearby town. They were walking down the main street, taking a stroll before settling down somewhere to eat. "So, what now? You're going to set your name in the hall of fame as the One-Man-Band?"

"I wish I could, but it's pretty impossible." Cessily had expected him to joke, but that reply made her curious.

"What do you mean?" Naruto crossed his arms behind his head.

"What I said. It's impossible." He turned his head while saying this sentence. He saw Cess' confused face. He sighed rolling his eyes. "Well, I'm not that expert in music, but I know how to work in a group. So, basically, to make a good team, you need two things: coordination, and feeling."

"Coordination and feeling… So?"

"Coordination is something you get by exercising yourself, but feeling is another matter altogether. It's a combination of everyone's attitude to their chosen skill, that combine together to create feeling that combines itself with coordination to make good 'music'." He turned to her once again, grinning. "Basically, if I tried to make a one man band, I would sound more like a good recording because while I would have the best coordination ever, I can't create a feeling with myself, right? I like guitar, though."

"Hmmm…" Cessily thought about it… Coordination and feeling… It reminded her of when Jay and Kevin exchanged teams after the matter of Kevin's process. They probably felt something similar… Kevin. She really had to think about him again, hn? She was enjoying herself, and she just had to think about a depressing matter. Naruto noticed this and leaned a hand on her right shoulder.

"Something the matter, Cess?" Mercury just leaned her own left hand over Naruto's one. She gently shook her head.

"I'm sorry, it's just… I'm worried about a friend. He disappeared, recently…"

"…" Naruto stopped and noticed a pub that seemed like the answer to their eating problems. He turned his gaze to cess and smiled. "What about we talk about it in front of some good food and a beer?"

--

"We don't know where or when exactly he disappeared to. He has always been troubled by his powers, and after what has happened with Laurie… He didn't do it on purpose, but Kevin has always thought of himself the worst possible."

"… Poor guy, I say." Naruto took another bite out of his burger, thinking about what Cessily had just said to him. And he started thinking that maybe he had made all the 'powers-thingy' too simple. There were people similar to him. People who would have preferred to not ever have their powers. Because they were hated from a lot of people. Because of the very power, that they couldn't control, that could hurt others. He felt a little like an ass. A big ass. Good thing he had never said 'That is so cool!' to people like… Oh. He covered his face. "I'm sorry…"

"… Don't worry. It's okay." Cessily smiled nonetheless. He didn't want Naruto to feel bad when she didn't herself. "To tell you the truth… I was surprised, the first time I talked to you."

"Of what?" Suddenly, the girl leaned her hand over his own one. Naruto raised an eyebrow at that.

"Of this. Because you find this perfectly normal." She started caressing the inner palm of his hand with her own one. "You find me normal." She raised both her hand and Naruto's one, bringing the latter to her face. Again, Naruto blushed but didn't flinch or hold back. "I'm made of organic, non-toxic mercury. I don't even need to eat or drink, now. My body's temperature is stable, it doesn't change. I'm basically the T-1000 from the second Terminator movie. But…" She kissed his fingertips. Naruto was scarlet. She just kept on smiling. "You react just like I'm made of flesh and blood."

"B-Because… I don't see any difference. You're a pretty girl. Stop. It doesn't matter in how many ways you can shape your body." She giggled and kissed his fingertips another time, a bit more sensually, this time. Naruto blushed even more, if possible. Seems like she knew how to manipulate her body well enough. They felt like a pair of normal lips, minus the wetness, but the cold he felt made up for that. Against his now very hot hand… "Ehm, Cessily, if you don't stop, I think my blood will start going in other directions…"

"Eheheh… Yes, it would be a problem… Inside here." She didn't let go of the hand, but she dropped it back down on the table. She smiled at Naruto. She felt so good, doing that again. Talking with boys normally, teasing them… And she hadn't lost her touch, judging from how petrified Naruto had become.

"I… I need to go to the bathroom…" He slowly, slowly got up from his seat and walked to the said room of the pub, while she observed him go, smiling… And then she blushed herself. Maybe she really had gone a bit too far… Suddenly, she felt something hit her on top of the head. It then fell on the table in front of her. A chip. She sighed. She didn't even bother turning around. Some group of idiots who hated mutant. Time and time again, some of them came to the nearby town hoping to find some there as well to make fun of them and things like that. That included throwing chips as well, yes. They would keep on doing it for a while and then get tired. Suddenly, though, she heard a bigger noise that made her turn around. She did so… And she saw three boys, unconscious, and with blood coming out of their noses along with bruises, like they had been hit in the face by something, sprawled on the floor. But what… She blinked when she saw three rolls of toilet paper on the ground near the table. She opened her mouth in a 'O' of surprise and then laughed. The pub's owner shared her laugh.

"Your boyfriend sure is protective."

"…" Cessily could have just said 'He's not my boyfriend' and act all shy and flustered, but… She wanted to be a bit greedy, that night. "He sure is."

--

"I still don't understand how you managed to hit all of them so hard in the face with toilet paper."

"Ninja, remember. I can more than multiplying myself." Naruto grinned and rubbed his nose. While he didn't have curfew, Cess did. So, they were to be back before 11 PM. And Naruto was stupefied to find out that, indeed, everyone was in their rooms. He shivered. It was probably because the 'guard' was Wolverine. He seemed like the kind of guy who enjoyed making poor adolescents shiver in fear. Nevermind. They were currently walking, very silently, in the corridors of the female dorm. "After all, multiplying yourself by thousands doesn't do much good if you can't land a hit. Not against people like ninja… Or you guys."

"I guess…" She stopped in front of a door. Her door, it seemed. She turned around. "Here we are. My stop."

"Well, it's been a good evening." Said Naruto, grinning. Cessily nodded.

"Want to come inside?"

"I… …" Three. Two. One. Ninjaed. He jumped back in a panicked pose. "WHAT?!" Cessily had to restrain herself from laughing by de-shaping her vocal cords. When she stopped having her laughing fit, Naruto was still blushing a bit stranged out.

"Just joking. It's just our first date, handsome. For now…" She lengthened her arms and basically forced him to approach her. Naruto almost tripped, but the comic side of the situation helped him calm down enough. Enough to just close his eyes and lean his hands on her waist while she embraced him around the neck. Best position for close-range passionate kissing. A long session of close-range passionate kissing. And it seems that while Layla had the typical sweetness of angels, Cessily had the spice of the devil. She was very good at that. So much that when they stopped she had her legs wrapped around his body while having been pushed into her door and Naruto's hair was completely ruffled. And we do know how difficult those things are to ruffle. When they ran out of breath, they stared at each other for a bit before Naruto let her down on the floor. She adjusted her clothes, and cleared her voice. "That was… I mean… Wow."

"I should be the one saying that…" Naruto tried to calm down his hair. To no avail. "No goodnight peck, otherwise I don't think we'll move from here till next morning."

"I agree. Well…" Cessily slowly opened her door. She turned to Naruto one last time and smiled. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight." The redhead closed the door and locked it behind her. Naruto started to walk away down the corridor. Little did he know that the first thing that Cessily did was to let herself fall on the bed with a dreamy sigh, before giggling like a little girl. Life was so beautiful, in that moment.

"Hmmm…" Naruto was having similar thoughts. He raised his head to the ceiling. "She's a really nice girl…"

"You don't know the half of it." Naruto jumped yet again and turned around ready to fight Logan… While she just found himself face to face with a blonde-haired girl, instead. Particular feature, she had a bandaged arm. And the fingers were like… Yellow? And the skin was… "It's difficult to not stare at it, I know."

"Ah! Sorry, I didn't mean to…" Then, it came to mind what he and Cess had talked about that very evening. About how a friend named Kevin had unintentionally hurt a girl named… "You're Laurie, aren't you? Me and Cess talked about you right this evening."

"Really? And what did she say?" Laurie crossed her arms behind her back.

"That you got hurt. Let's leave it at that." He said, crossing his own arms on his chest. Then, he suddenly grinned. "That, and that when you first met you hated each other's guts."

"… Something like that, yes." Laurie chuckled. "But when you go through a lot together… You just can't at least become friendly."

"I suppose…" Naruto's attention returned to her arm. He had thought about problems coming with powers that very evening. "… Does it hurt?"

"… No." Laurie held the arm up and stared at it. "Josh is working on healing it. It will be back in one piece soon enough."

"Josh is, like, your boyfriend, right?"

"… Once. Now, I don't really know…" She smiled sadly. "What I know if that he's been sad and desperate ever since my arm got turned like this. He was sleeping on my bed. I don't know how I managed to slip out of it without waking him up…"

"Understood… Why were you spying on us, by the way?" Laurie blinked. The face was the one of someone who got caught while clearly expecting the opposite. Naruto grinned again. "I've noticed someone was watching us around the time Cess wrapped her legs around me. I guessed it must have been you."

"…" Laurie blushed. It wasn't always a good thing to be caught peeping on other people. "I… Just wanted to verify if the date had went well… And I suppose it did. You were quite… Energetic, in your effusions."

"You don't know the half of it." Joked Naruto, using Laurie's words from before.

"You know… I think she really needs something like this. She's been very lonely, on the love side. I don't remember her ever going out with a guy…"

"I suppose… But don't think I went out with her out of pity." Laurie raised his head. Naruto's face had turned to a smiling one with eyes open. That meant a bit of his normal talk. "Love isn't given out of pity or need. That isn't right. I went out with Cessily because she's a cool mutant, a pretty girl and a nice person. Just like you."

"You don't know me enough to say that…" She replied, holding her head to the side.

"I trust my impressions." He smiled with closed eyes. He liked this girl. He understood why Cessily talked about her in a good way. "It's been nice knowing you, Laurie. I'll see you around, hopefully."

"Same here, Naruto. Good night."

"Goodnight." They parted ways. Naruto waved a bit with his hand before disappearing behind the corner. Laurie then walked to Cessily's door and knocked. She felt the girl quickly getting back on her feet and opening the door in a hurry. She opened the door sporting a flustered face… That immediately fell once she realized it wasn't who she was expecting to be.

"Oh… It's you, Laurie." The blonde had to restrain herself from laughing. Cessily's disappointed voice was something really comical.

"Maybe that invitation wasn't just a joke." Laurie didn't give her time to retort. She pushed her inside. Time for gossip.

--

Naruto found himself smiling, even if he had just lost his way inside the dormitory. It seemed like that school was filled just with nice people. Well, Julian-ass-mode apart. That was pretty much being an idiot, though. Not being a bad guy. Even the teachers. All nice and accommodating. And he guessed he should apologize to miss Frost the following day. He had tormented her all day long with…

"Why are you doing this?"

"You know exactly why I'm doing this…" Naruto blinked yet again. It seemed like that night was full of events. He suddenly went into stealth mode. He knew those voices. Talk of the devil, it was miss Frost… And Laura? He slowly approached the angle and turned his face enough to see what was behind the angle. What he saw made his heart skip a beat. Like he had guessed, it was Emma Frost and Laura. Emma looked like usual. Her butt looked like usual. But Laura… Laura was crying. Tears were flowing out of her eyes and down her cheeks. That was the most she had ever seen of her emotions. But for something to make her cry, what… "Because you're a weapon. A cold-blooded killing machine who knows nothing but death and murder."

"…" Naruto's heart seemed about to stop. Those words… Then, it…

"You're a threat to every life within this school. But that's all about to change." Continued icily, as cliché as that can sound, the white queen.

"…"

"Because one way or another, you are leaving." She turned around. She knew how to make her exits and where to stop her sentences to make them have maximum effect on who she was talking to. But she didn't expect to find herself face to face with the blonde 'Militia'. "… Militia. What…"

"She's crying."

"…" Naruto didn't ask, nor did he talk normally. He just stated that fact. He kept his face downcast. And his posture told other people everything they needed to know. Straight back, closed fists, clenching and unclenching. He walked slowly past Emma and a meter or so in front of Laura, who was observing him surprised.

"She doesn't smile. She doesn't laugh. She doesn't get sad. Yet, you managed to make her cry." Naruto's fists were so clenched that he was drawing blood from them, and they were starting to tremble. And the tone of his voice made evident that he was going from angry to borderline furious. "To do that… God only knows what you did to her. Another one of your telepathic tricks, miss Frost?"

"… Militia, you don't…" It all happened so fast that a normal person would have had trouble seeing everything. Emma had tried to lean a hand over Naruto's left shoulder, trying to initiate a talk. After all, she would have had to do that sooner or later, about how dangerous X-23 was, etc… He would have none of that. He turned the first bracelet of his armband. The burst of power manifested itself in a red flash of light that erupted from his body. He then turned around to his left, raising his head, showing his furious face. Emma turned her body to diamond form. Naruto trusted forward his right arm and hand, opened in a palm, and hit Emma straight in the chest. The hit was so strong that she was sent flying for three meters before falling on the ground on her butt. "…" His eyes… They had changed. They had turned from that beautiful charming blue to a blood red.

"Leave." His voice had gained a feral tone. He reminded her of Wolverine. And she could actually 'hear' the rage. "The next time I will not use a palm."

"…" Emma slowly got back on her feet and dispelled her diamond form. _… This is no good. At all._ She turned back and walked away, turning the angle and disappearing into the night. Naruto relaxed only when he was sure she was far enough. When he felt her footsteps disappear. If he had been calmer, he would have noticed how that took longer than usual. It seemed like all his senses had affined. He could listen, see, smell better. His body felt stronger and hot from the inside, like the energy that he felt in his whole body was a fire. But all that mattered to him at that moment was being sure that that witch had gotten out of hearing's range.

"… She's gone." Once he was sure of that, he turned the bracelet back in place with the others. His eyes reacquired their usual coloration and his body went back to normal. His expression relaxed and he turned to Laura. "… Are you okay?"

"…" Laura's attention was divided. Between the words of Emma, hurting her so much… And Naruto's actions. He had just defended her. Not only that. He had gotten so angry on her behalf to the point of attacking the woman who had reduced her to a crying mess. And the question that came most natural to her was the same. "W-Why?" Sniff. Naruto smiled to her and embraced her, putting a hand behind her head to make her lean it on his left shoulder.

"We'll talk about it tomorrow." He used his other hand to lift her bridal style. Laura let him do so. She just kept on staring at his face while he carried her to the door of his room, opened it and slowly walked in. Trying to be as silent as possible, he put her back in her bed and pulled up her covers. He then gently grabbed her hand, and picked up a chair, putting it near her bed. "I know that you want to cry, but… Try to sleep. I'll stay here all night. If she tries a stunt like that again, I'll throw her out of the window."

"…" Laura wanted to cry, but, instead… She tried to focus on the warmth of Naruto's hand, instead. She closed her eyes, trying to focus in her mind just their intertwined hands, sometimes caressing her palm slowly. A kind of warmth she found herself longing for. She didn't know if Naruto could hear her, but she spelled a low 'Thank you'. With a tone of voice that herself couldn't identify, so different from her usual one…

--

"Ehm… Naruto… I think you should wake up…"

"Zzzz… Hn?" Naruto raised his head and blinked. He then rubbed his eyes... Or at least tried. Seems like one of his hands was stuck. Blocked into some kind of vice grip. He blinked. He found himself observing… "Sooraya?"

"It seems that you've… Kept Laura company. But I think you should leave before someone notices."

"I… Uh?" Naruto observed where his hand was stuck and then began to remember the events of the night. It seems that he had suddenly fallen asleep on top of Laura, who had instinctively tightened her grip on his hand, holding it to her chest. Naruto blushed scarlet and actually managed to free it. "Ehm… Right. Henge!" Naruto transformed into Sooraya, who blinked at the choice. "I'm going to go. Tell her that there's no training this morning, alright? She has to recover."

"Ehm… Alright."

--

"_The short you have just seen was the one that showed us where the responsibility of Stamford's incident lies. The careless actions of the superhero group known as New Warriors have been the igniter. The…"_

"Thank god for Youtube." That morning Naruto had asked for a break, since Laura's state following that night's 'accident'. That, and he had totally forgotten to see the news the last days. But internet was the wine of purity and the vinegar of hostility combined in one (he really couldn't stop seeing the Frantics AMVs). It had everything. So he managed to see what he needed to see. So the whole thing had started because these kids called the New Warriors had engaged super-villains in a city center, near a freaking school, without even gathering information or planning ahead. The whole mess could have been avoided if they just took out that guy… Nitro, right? Him first. Or they could have just called someone with more experience than them. The New Avengers, right? Or whoever could take on those guys without blowing up the whole city or teleport/fly them away. Now he was watching an interview to a certain She-Hulk. "Hmmm…"

"_A ban on super-heroes?__ Well, in a world with thousands of super-villains that's obviously impossible, Larry. But training them up and making them carry badges? Yes, I'd say that's a reasonable response."_

"Hmmm… I think I've seen enough… Uh?"

"_You've got mail."_

"Mail, hn?" He opened his e-mail for the first time in his life. He was a bit excited… Bummer that it was mostly spam. Just one mail was from a real person. He read the sender's ID… "Mary Jonasson… Who the hell… … Oh! Is it her?" He remembered. The only person who he knew that went by the name of Mary who had his e-mail was that little girl he had bandaged at Stamford. He opened the message and began to read it.

Dear Mister Militia

My ankle is healing. Me and my family have just moved to dad's house in the other county where he works. It's real nice and big, but mom and dad are really angry and sad. They say that they've lost a lot of friends in the explosion. I did too, but they're more angry than sad.

They say things like 'Superhumans be damned' and 'It's not just mutants anymore. Now even the others have gone nuts'. Do you think you've gone nuts too? I don't know what to tell them to not make them be angry anymore.

I've seen the news, but it was a bad guy who has exploded the city, right? Why do the good guys get blamed, though? I don't understand…

Mary

P.S.: I've found this site on internet last night: 

"Hmmm…" Naruto read the e-mail a couple of times before thinking about what to tell her. He shrugged. The truth, he thought, was good. He started typing.

Hi, Mary!

First thing, drop the Mister! Just call me Naruto. :P It's my real name. Mary, Naruto. Naruto, Mary. Got that? Alright, now to the questions…

Well, I think it's pretty natural for your be angry and sad if they have lost a lot of friends. It's natural for people to get angry when something like this happen. Because their friends died because someone killed them.

As to why they are angry with the 'good guys', it's because the bad guy has exploded the city because a group of stupid good guys has tried to fight them in a place with a lot of people, while they knew that they had more experience than them in super-fighting. If they hadn't done that and called an older super-hero, there would have been no explosion. They acted without thinking through first. That's not something you can do when you're a superhero.

_Why do I suddenly feel the need to punch myself? Ah, right. Because that's what I've done most of the time I had to fight in my life._

You have to think of the people's safety first, and then about beating the bad guys. Understood? Try to tell your parents that not all mutants and super-humans are bad and irresponsible, even if they will probably not listen. Parents are like that, when they're angry. I hope to hear from you soon.

Naruto 

"And now… Sending." He clicked and sent the message. Satisfied of sending his first e-mail, he then turned to another matter at hand. The link Mary had sent him. He opened it…

"…" The page was charging… When it was done… Naruto's eyes almost bulged out of his sockets. "WHAT?!"

First Militia Fan-Club

Visitors count: 1.235.477

--

He really didn't expect it. At least, not right after the funeral. But indeed, it had happened. A woman had suddenly spit at him while crying after he made a single step out of the church. And she had started talking to him… Furiously.

"Cops have to train and carry badges, but that's too boring for Tony Stark! Nah, Joe Billionaire here says that all you need are some powers and a badass attitude, and you can have a place in his private super-gang!"

"Someone get her outta here…"

You need the courage and fury of a hurt mother to turn your own son's funeral into a battleground full of media's bait.

--

"You are the angel, my son…" And you had to be pretty sad, desperate, or stupid to not recognize the face of one of your race's worst enemies or just let the thing pass by. Jay was one of the three, to not recognize William Stryker as the 'priest' who was sweet-talking him into being an 'angel'. "And I've brought you god's message."

--

"…" Emma Frost had done many things in name of what she believed was right and her objectives. Right now, her primary mission was protecting the students of her school. At any means. Right now, she was having a little personal war against X-23, alias Laura. But what had happened last night was an unexpected development. Militia. Naruto Uzumaki. The boy with the demon. The outsider. The alien. No matter how you wanted to call him, last evening he had taken X's defenses. To the point of attacking and threatening her. It seemed like the guy could get pretty emotional, but the point was, she had attacked her. The headmistress of the school. So, now, the problem was... _How do I kick him out as well without having to explain to Scott why I suddenly decided to do so, since that would imply revealing my little act of psychological warfare?_

--

"I'm sorry…"

"Sorry for being normal? I can understand that you don't feel like going out, after what happened last night." Laura and Naruto were taking a stroll around the outer park of the institute. The girl didn't feel like going to see that movie like they had programmed. And Naruto couldn't blame her. He just kept on smiling, though. "I must say, I was really surprised."

"… Of what?"

"Of seeing you cry." Naruto suddenly held his hands in front of his chest in defense. "Mind you, I don't mean that what she did was good. I hate her guts for what she did, but…"

"But?" Laura just kept on looking at him straight in the eyes, awaiting his next words.

"Well, how can I say this…" Naruto scratched the back of his head while thinking about the right words. "I thought that you had… Forgotten how to cry, laugh… That you were empty. But instead, it seems that you just don't show that sides of your personality so easily." He grinned. Good thing he brushed his teeth white every single day. "I was glad to see that."

"… You still haven't answered the question of last night." Naruto winched when Laura suddenly changed her tone of voice. They stopped in front of the little forest that delimitated one side of the mansion. "… Why?"

"…" Naruto sighed. He knew that the simple word 'Why?' was to be translated to 'Why are you so gentle and kind to someone like me to the point of attacking the headmistress of the school that is currently housing you?'. He was about to answer when… He grinned again. Idea. "I'll tell you if you beat me."

"… Beat you… At a game?"

"Hide and Seek! We play it by the rules!" Naruto turned to the forest. "I hide in the forest. You count till 20 and then come after me. If you can catch me before dawn, you win!"

"… What…"

"I start! See you later!" Before she could ask what was the sense of all that, he disappeared into the forest, leaving Laura with no choice but…

"… One…" Count.

--

"Hell are you shrieking about, tubby? I got nothing to do with Speedball or the New Warriors. Those guys were C-List, tops."

"Baby-Killer!"

"Johnny, I don't like this. I want to go home." Johnny Storm sighed. The Human Torch guessed he should have expected something like that. He had overestimated the human race's intelligence. Scaring his date out of pubbing with him. Way to go, idiots… Of course, there was worse. Kleeesh. "JOHNNY!"

"Hold him down! Hold him down!" Being knocked out by a bottle behind the head and then beaten into a come sure beats not being able to go dancing for an evening.

--

"… I got you."

"… It's just past midnight. Oh, well. I thought I would have lasted a lot less, to tell you the truth…" Four hours were a really good time, against someone like Laura. Even if just one had been of searching. Three had been of running away. And he had survived that much because Laura hadn't resorted to use her claws. Even if she didn't want to kill him or hurt him, they would have been useful to cut through all the traps he had set. In the end, she had speared him, in perfect Edge's style, and was now pinning him to the ground by sitting on his stomach and using her own hands to pin his ones to the ground behind him. "Oh, well. Mind getting up?"

"No." Naruto sweatdropped. The girl sure knew what she wanted. "First, I want to know."

"…" He sighed. He knew that was coming. Well, he had lost. "You ask me why. I ask you, why not?"

"… Because what miss Frost said last night was correct." She said. That made Naruto frown. "I'm a killer. A weapon. All I know is death and murder. I…"

"And because of that, you're the loneliest person I've ever met." That shut her up. Naruto's face was serious. "Miss Frost says she's the headmistress of a school that helps young mutants in need. Well, she sure doesn't act like it." Naruto raised his head. "Show me someone more in need of help of yourself, Laura. Just name it. You have had a living hell as a life, till now. Forced to kill, forced to hurt. And when you manage to escape, the people who could help you instead want to push you aside. Call me unreasonable, but that's bullshit."

"… But I… If I ever…"

"I will not let you become a killer again." Naruto was now sitting on the ground, even if Laura was still sitting on his legs, now. "If you ever freak out or anything, I will stop you. I'll knock you out and then beat the crap out of anyone who tried to make you a monster."

"… Why…" Laura was gripping his wrists so hard that she was almost hurting him. She felt sad again. But for other reasons. That she didn't comprehend. Naruto suddenly freed his hands from her vice grip and suddenly hugged her, more tightly but at the same time more gently than the previous evening.

"Because under all those bad experiences and tactics of murder and fighting there's a person who wants nothing more but to lead a normal life. For her mother who gave her a name…" He broke the hug to look at her in the eyes smiling yet again. "But most of all, for her own sake. So, live and be happy. And if you ever need help, I'll always be there for you."

"…" Laura felt her eyes water. And she just didn't know why. Or maybe she didn't remember. What she knew was that her eyes were tearing up and she was sniffing again. "… You… You promise?" Naruto just nodded. Laura bit her lower lip. That day she was acting according to her instincts, unlike usual. She shot her head forward and gave Naruto a quick peck on the lips. Then she hugged him tightly back. Naruto smiled and hugged her tight as well. "Can… Can we stay like this? For a while?"

"For as long as you want."

--

In the end, they had stayed like that almost till dawn. At some point they fell asleep. And like that morning with his hand, Laura was reluctant to let go of him. Naruto just smiled and offered her his hand yet again to squeeze with her own. That's how they were walking back to the mansion, hand in hand. If they weren't a mutant with deadly adamantium claws and a boy with whiskers and a demon sealed in his belly they would have been the symbol of the world's cuteness.

"… I don't understand…" Naruto groaned. Another thing? "I… I don't understand why I'm acting like this…"

"…" Naruto sighed. She didn't understand why she had given him that peck on the lips or why she wanted to hold hands and hug each other? Well, it's not like he could just tell her. "I think that it's better if you ask some other girl about that. I'm…"

"Jay!" The moment got broken by Emma Frost's panicked scream. Naruto had never heard her use that tone of voice. What could have happened… Then, he saw it. No. He saw him. Jay. Jay Guthrie. Icarus. Without wings, covered in blood. Emma and Cyclops kneeling by him side, the X-Men's leader picking him up from the ground.

"… What…" _What is going on here?_

_Continue…_

_In the next chapter…_

Dates, new meetings, fun, training… It's all over. The Xavier's institute falls into chaos because one of the X-Men's oldest enemies has decided to resume his Crusade. And in the meanwhile, the whole USA fall into a even bigger chaos. The prelude of a war between heroes. Stay tuned.


	8. Childhood's End II

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto nor Marvel… MEINOS SMASH.

**No Reading**

**Chapter6: Times of War**

_All students are to report to the Danger Room in ten minutes._

It had all happened so fast… First, they witnessed Jay's findings, but remained out of sight. With how Emma was around Laura recently, he would have bet she could have blamed her. Then, they had sneaked back into the dorms and went each one to their own room, waiting for further happenings. No one had noticed it, since how freaked out they were about what had just happened to Jay. They decided to get some more sleep… And around 6 PM after nothing more had happened the whole day, while he was taking a shower, he suddenly heard Emma basically shouting in his mind.

_This is a training exercise. Come in uniform._

He had obeyed. She sounded very upset. Well, he couldn't really blame her, after seeing Jay in that situation. So, he finished his shower and got dressed in his uniform. Since he had gotten used to walking there each day, it was easy for him to arrive there as one of the first ones. A lot of other students arrived after him, including Cessily, Laura, Julian, Noriko, Santo, Sooraya… Basically, everyone around his age with powers. Even Laurie was there. When everyone was there, Emma made her appearance. She was deadly serious. She didn't give him any thought. _… I have a strange feeling about this._

"Today everything changes." A good start, he thought. Her tone was as serious as her face. "No more squads. No more field days."

"What?"

"You can't be serious."

"We won't do it." Naruto blinked at that. It seemed that the Cuckoos had managed to read in Emma's mind. They knew beforehand what she was about to say… And they refused to do it? That didn't bode well.

"You came here to learn how to use your powers and find your place in the world. Now we will see what you've learned and where your place is." The trio's reaction caused her to glance in their direction, but she returned her gaze to the crowd yet again, eyeing them one by one. "There are two possibilities-- on the battlefield or on the sidelines. You will decide which."

"…" Naruto crossed his arms. He was starting to understand something. They were all dressed in what he guessed they wore when they did combat training and went on missions. _She wants to… But didn't she say that she wanted to keep us safe or something?_

"The exercise is simple. Every man for himself." She threw another glance in the students' direction, who had started to murmur. "Last students standing will train to be X-Men… The rest do not." Murmurs. Lots of murmurs and whispered sentences.

_I can't believe she said it… But… _Naruto knew that what that woman was doing was wrong and probably behind the backs of the other teachers since he doubted that the stunt she pulled on Laura was something authorized by the class' council, that he should just shout to everyone to get the hell out of there… But then… Why the hell had to stop his left arm from trembling in excitement? Why did he found himself grinning? _I seriously want to kick some ass…_ He then began to observe around. It seemed like Emma had told some people to stay out of the fight because of some reason or the other. Like Laurie. While other people started asking the teacher question and pumping and threatening each other, his gaze was fixed on Laura only. He was sure that woman would try something again. After all, according to his memories that he had gotten from her, she was the trainer of one of the teams… The Hellions. He snorted and rolled his eyes. So, he would have to watch out for people in red uni… "… Cess…" It seemed that the students who he would have to watch out for in Laura's defense were Julian, Santo, Sooraya and Cessily. He just hoped the two girls knew better that doing that… Actually, they probably did. _I think that the only people who would go with miss Skank's plans would be Julian and Santo._ He walked to Laura and placed a hand on her right shoulder. "Laura."

"Naruto…" She turned around. "You're going to fight too?"

"Of course." He grinned to her, then he approached her face to talk with a lower voice. "By the way, I think miss Frost could ask some of her previous students to gang up on you or something. Watch out particularly for Julian and Santo, alright? I know that you can take care of yourself, but if I see you in trouble, I'll be by your side."

"…" She nodded and cupped his face with one hand. "Be careful, alright?"

"Of course. Now, go and bash some heads." He just smiled and waved to her before returning to where he was standing before, not noticing that his little talk and Laura's unusual gesture of affection had been clearly seen by Cess, who couldn't help but stare at Laura.

"… ss. Cess!"

"Uh?!" Cessily turned around to find Laurie trying to talk to her. "S-Sorry, Cess. I was just… Really focused, you know."

"I noticed that. I just wanted to say good luck."

Emma had just telepathically ordered to Hellion about X-23. But then… She blinked. An idea… Of course. That was the perfect occasion to at least keep Naruto out of the team without getting much suspicion. She talked in the speaker to let herself be heard by that. It would work better. "One last special rule."

"Uh?" Naruto blinked, and everyone instinctively turned to Emma's position behind the glass.

"_Among you, we have a special case. He's not exactly a student, and he has been trained as a ninja since young age other than by one of the senior X-Men among the last few weeks, and has displayed a set of mutant abilities that along with his skills make him a opponent as strong as one of the senior X-Men."_

"…" Naruto blinked one more time. Two more times. He was staring to sweat. Especially because a lot of people in the room were turning in his direction. He just kept his gaze on Emma. _No… She wouldn't… She wouldn't dare…_

"_The special rule is: whoever manages to take down Uzumaki Naruto alias 'Militia', will automatically join the training team."_

"WHAT?!" Naruto turned his gaze from Emma to the other students. Everyone was looking in his direction, by now. Everyone in his own way. The hungry gaze coming from a couple of them didn't go unnoticed. "Oh, come on! I'm not THAT strong!"

"_Begin."_

"…" As soon as those words left Emma's mouth, Naruto saw a lots of things coming in his direction. A burst of flame. A lighting bolt. A set of quills. A tongue. A ray of telekinetic energy. "Oh, for the love of…!" The attacks all hit in the same point, generating a little explosion.

"Naruto!" This scream came, surprisingly for most people, from both Cess and Laura at the same time. The whole room seemed to have stopped, waiting for the smoke to disperse. When it dispersed… Nothing. There was nothing. Naruto was nowhere to be found. The only thing left on the floor was what looked like a burned piece of black clothing. "… Where…"

"First time I substituted myself with a piece of clothing… No. First time I substituted myself at all." Everyone turned their heads in the new direction Naruto's voice was coming from… And the reaction of most people was of surprise. Even Emma was surprised. Naruto, nobody knew how, had suddenly appeared on the other side of the room, standing on his hands… On top of the head of a burkaless Sooraya? "Glad that worked. Sorry, Sooraya."

"Think… Nothing of it." Naruto dodged another set of quills by somersaulting in the air and then pushing himself up with his hands while Sooraya turned to dust. And then Naruto surprised everyone again… By sticking to the ceiling with just his feet. Even Emma was shocked.

"Oh, come on! That guy has more powers than all the Avengers together!" Santo complained while Naruto frowned.

"… Alright. So, you guys want a piece of me?" Naruto suddenly crossed his fingers in a familiar handseal. "You want to gang up on me?! Guys, as long as we're in a closed room, I'm the one ganging up on you! Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"

"!!" The ceiling and walls of the room got suddenly filled with white smoke and right after with black and orange. The copies of Naruto immediately launched themselves towards the opponents, each one choosing a different one. All hell broke loose. It was mayhem. And Emma was starting to think that it hadn't been a great idea, since what he had said was true, it seemed. As long as they were in a secluded space, it was him who was ganging up on all the others. Now each student in the room had to worry about a Naruto other than the real one and the other students.

In the meanwhile, the real Naruto turned two of his bracelets on his armband. The burst of power was showed by a big flash of red light, bigger than the one of a couple of nights before. _Since now it's relatively safe to use this power, I might at least get the hang of it… Two tails. _Naruto flexed his biceps. Seems that the biggest difference was that while previously Kyuubi's chakra exited his body and protected his body, now it remained inside and strengthened it. _Hmmm… I kinda liked those things I did with my chakra appendages, but… __Oh, well._ As gravity defying that was, Naruto flexed his legs, reading himself for a jump, and then jumped forward. He landed on Santo on all fours and immediately bounced back. The giant fell on his butt while Naruto landed a few meters back, holding his wrist. "Ouch… Seems like two tails still isn't enough to really hurt rock-dude…"

--

"…" Tony Stark was currently a very busy man. If the Superhuman Registration Act was hounding his dreams before, right now it was like an obsession. In no more than two weeks, it was going to become a law. There was no doubt about that. And nothing can wake you up like 600 victims in a disaster that could have been avoided easily. And a desperate mother shouting some sentences that sting like only truth can. So, his care was to define the limits and measures of the act and the people that they would affect. That brought up the case of the atlantideans, aliens, and mutants. And that brought to his mind the new boy at the Xavier's.

There had been very few things able to take a hold of Tony's curiosity like that 'Militia' boy, before that. And Iron Man himself just couldn't explain why, if someone asked him. The boy wasn't a human, nor he was a mutant. But if he was an alien, how come that half of his DNA was identical to the mutant genome? On top of that, since Strange had become involved with him around that same period, Tony had a suspect that the boy had something to do with the 'demon' he took care of. Maybe a superhuman from another dimension? It would not have been the first time it happened… Then there was his asset of superhuman abilities. Multiplying without suffering the drawbacks Madrox suddenly had to endure, superhuman physical attributes, and his cells showed signs of regeneration and some kind of energy manipulation. So, an uncovered provenience, half a mutant, something to do with demons, and a set of abilities that could make a powerful asset in any super-team…

"… Just what are you, boy?" He voiced his thoughts out loud.

--

"Atchoom! Damn, someone must be talking about me…"

"Burn, damnit!"

"And I'm pretty sure it's not you, matchbox." Naruto flexed on his knees and dodged another burst of flames coming from 'matchbox', his new nickname for the funny firehead who had taken a liking to trying to burn his ass. The fight had been going on for a few minutes, and Naruto had noticed something. His training with Laura had paid off nicely. More than nicely. No one in the crowd had managed to get a hit on him yet. Thanks to the nine-tails chakra enhancing his agility too, it seemed, but he had gotten some sort of insight to predict and dodge incoming attacks… These guys were moving like slowpokes, compared to Laura. Even his clones. They hadn't managed to take out half of them. "Oh, come on. You should have understood that you can't hurt me just by throwing burst of flames around! At the most, you can hurt others!"

"Well… Ah! Sorry, Pixie! I mean, you can't touch me either! You'd get burned!" Naruto dodged a 'flaming punch', this time.

"Well, that's not entirely true." Naruto focused his chakra entirely on his feet, and with a burst of speed moved behind the matchbox before he could react… And then grabbed him around his waist with both his hands. "Factor one. Your costume is made to not make your flames hurt others around by containing them, right?"

"Darn!" The boy struggled to get free… But Naruto threw him in the air and then grabbed him back by his legs and started swinging him around. "Woooh! What the hell…"

"Factor two. A flaming flail can be useful!" Naruto started smacking the flamehead around into other students, grinning like a madman. After he had gotten tired of it and had got tired of spinning, he let him go throwing him into the lizard guy he knew. "Ah, sorry, Lizard-kid!"

"It's Anole, actually…"

"Eh… !!" That had hurt. Naruto had been distracted by the sudden appearance of another voice behind him and turned around, but he didn't expect to receive a vicious right hook to the face that sent him flying into the other rockman in the room apart Santo. He recovered fast enough and managed to stick to his back.

"H-Hey! Get off!" While the student tried to get Naruto off his back, the blonde observed his new attacker. A girl, this time. No uniform, but she looked threatening all the same. She was enveloped in what looked an armour made out of azure energy. He rubbed the blood she had managed to draw from his lower lip.

"Hmmm… That was a pretty strong hit…"

"Come on." The girl ran towards him and Naruto did the same, sprinting himself from the rock-guy's back. He gathered all the strength he had in his left arm and punched the girl's… Armor. Nothing. She didn't even bulge. Her hit, instead, sent him flying again and skidding on the floor, this time.

"Ouch!" He didn't have time to whine in pain, since the girl was quickly over him. He rolled out of the way to dodge a hit to the stomach and got back on his feet a few feet to her right side. He rubbed his sore jaw while he waited for the healing factor to do the work. Then… He smirked. "You sure can pack a punch, girl. What's your name?"

"… Hisako Ichiki. Armor." Naruto rolled his eyes. Not much fantasy, but, well, it was simple and fitting. Nothing against it. Then, he held out both his hands.

"You're strong! And if you could pack in that punch without even budging, I'm sure this will not kill you!" Naruto started gathering chakra in his hands while moving his left one all over the right one… But had to duck to dodge a set of purple rocks. Seemed like Laura was doing her job. Hisako saw this as an opening and ran towards Naruto yet again. The blonde smirked. He was expecting that. The Rasengan was complete. "Take this!" Naruto jumped forward and dodged the girl's newest swipe, slamming the sphere in the middle of her armor's chest… And then released it's power on impact.

"! W-What!" Naruto, more than on damage, he wanted to get a 'flying away' effect out of the attack, so he lost purposely control of the chakra sphere. And he did get that effect… Actually, Naruto didn't think it would be THAT effective. Hisako flew away, into three other students, and the four of them ended against a wall. The girl winced. The impact had hurt her, it seemed. But he was sure the guys that ended between her back and the wall where much worse. He observed his hand. How…

_Maybe the Kyuubi's chakra strengthened my technique's execution as well?_ "I will have to pay attention to how I use my techniques, from now on, hn?"

"Urk!"

"Eh?" Naruto recognized the voice. It was Laura. But to Laura to let out that kind of verse… He turned around. The girl had just cut off Santo's arm, but now… He could clearly see Julian about to attack her from the right and the other rock dude attacking her from the left. And… She wasn't moving?! "What…" Then he understood. He glared at Emma for a brief second before sprinting in action. He ran forward, while bring his left hand to his armband yet again. _Let's see… What happens with two more tails. I'm pretty curious about the power, since the last times I was, like… Not really receptive?_

--

"Ghhh…" Laura couldn't move. And she knew the responsible, having just heard miss Frost's taunting voice in her head yet again. She was being attacked by two sides and she couldn't move her body at all. The only thing she could do was asking herself who would hit her first. Julian or… Then, suddenly… Something appeared in front of her. Something fast. So fast that she almost couldn't follow it. And what this 'something' did next surprised even more. He held out both his hands and… Stopped the rock mutant rush. Yes. He stopped it. Just like that. He skidded back a few centimetres, but that was it. So much was the strength in his arms that he had blocked him and was now holding him in a vice-grip. Then, she observed better her saviour… But… Where was he hiding that kind of power? _Naruto?_

"Hmmm… This doesn't feel exactly comfortable…" Everyone who was observing the scene was speechless. As long as strength goes, no one had ever seen Naruto able to do something like that. But he did. But his appearance had changed yet again. His body's muscles had grown and he seemed to have grown an inch of two in height. But what was freaking people out was the steam coming out of his mouth. Naruto, on his behalf, felt like there was something really spice in his throat, building heat. _What the hell… What is it with the fourth tail?_

"Enough." The voice of Emma Frost ended all the fights going on in the room. Naruto was glad of it. The heat in his throat was becoming unbearable. He let go of the rock giant an turned the bracelets back into the previous position. His body went back to normal and the heat in his throat disappeared. He massaged it nervously.

_What… What the hell was up with that?_

"Mercury." He blinked. Emma had just mentioned Cess' alias… Ah. She was telling the names of the people who had been selected, it seemed. He turned to Cess and gave her a thumbs up. "Dust. Hellion. Elixir."

"What?" Naruto turned his head to Josh, this time. Well, he hadn't seen him do much, in battle, but a healer was fundamental.

"Rockslide. Surge." She stopped for a second. She had finished making the list. Naruto blinked. What? What about Laura? She had kicked more ass than everyone else, in there. "You six will move on to train as New X-Men. The rest of you I will address later."

"She picked four hellions… That's a shocker." The voice of the Armor girl. He sighed. It sure was foreseeable.

"Don't you mean eight, Emma?" Everyone turned in the direction of the door. Salvation came in the shape of Scott summers and his Cuckoos groupies… Whoops. They all turned in his direction glaring. "You forgot to include Laura and Militia."

"Eh? Me too?" Naruto was starting to think that he was there just to please the white queen's ego. Scott simply said…

"There are seven of yourself standing on the field. That is enough for me." Naruto blinked and noticed that, indeed, he was right. He grinned and rubbed the back of his head. "Emma, we'll discuss this little exercise later."

"…" Scott walked away. He was clearly angry. Emma turned to the kids who were still standing in the room. The 'chosen ones'. "There will be an assembly in the auditorium in fifteen minutes for all mutant students. Oh, and, by the way, mister Keller…" Emma gave the poor Julian her usual teasing smirk. "Surge will be the new team leader."

"WHAT?!" Everyone turned to Noriko, who was as surprised as Julian by the sudden development. Naruto grinned. It was probably 'punishment' for not taking out Laura.

"Oh, this is going to suck." Surprisingly, it had been Josh the one who had said that. Naruto expected Santo to be the one to make those kind of comments. Naruto rolled his eyes. He partly shared that thought, but he decided to go against the rational part of his mind yet again, slapping a handful of his new teammates on their backs.

"Come on, think positive! We've just been chosen as the New X-Men! That means we own the place, right?"

"… Indeed. He's got a point, for once."

"Hell yeah! Elite, man!" The sentence seemed to calm down at least Julian and Santo. Josh just kept on sighing and Surge was too occupied to think about why the hell would miss frost make her the new captain. Sooraya just walked before the others towards the exit of the room. The others followed suit, Naruto last in tow… Well, the real one, at least. His clones made sure that Cess and Laura didn't notice the difference. He had noticed that the redhead was quite… Nervous, and kept on throwing glances in the dark-haired girl's direction. He had stayed behind because another person had, and his emo-senses were running wild. Time to safe another youngster from drowning in that dark pit. It was armor-girl.

"What's wrong? Lost some chainmail?"

"The armor is psionic. I can't lose it. I summon it by mind." Naruto sighed. When they couldn't joke it meant that they were pretty upset about something.

"Come on, it's not the end of the world if you've not been chosen for the new team. As long as you stay here you will have a chance of joining the X-Men."

"I'm starting to doubt that…" Naruto shrugged his shoulders. Hisako kept on talking. "I didn't even get into one of the teams before M-Day. You noticed I don't have an uniform. As much as I love pink, I would have traded this shirt for one anytime. And now…"

"So you're just gonna give up on your dream?" Hisako turned her head around in a flash. How did he… He just grinned. "I can easily tell that it's more than an ambition, to you. So you're just going to give up on it for a missed occasion?"

"Of course not!" Finally a reaction. Rage, but at least it was a reaction. He crossed his arms while she lowered her head once more. "It's just… I mean, you're very strong. You sent me flying. But you're still a trainee while you should have been made a real X-Man. If you are not…"

"Then, being an X-Man is probably about something more than just being able to kick the ass of bad guys. Don't you agree?" Naruto replied. He really felt that way. Even Logan had something else about him other than being able to kick the ass of lot of people anyplace anytime. Hisako nodded.

"Yes… You're right." Naruto grinned.

"Good! Then don't give up on becoming an X-Man! Because, if for me it could be a nice addition to my curriculum vitae…" He would think about how he knew what a curriculum vitae was later. For the time being, he walked out of the room in a cool way, one hand inside one pocket and the other arm stretched, the hand clenched in a half-fist. "For you… It would be your dream coming true."

"… I'll do not." Hisako replied. She didn't need him to remind her.

--

Twilight. The coming of evening. And at that time, three reunions were taking place at the same time. Two private ones. One in public. The public one, the one with the most audience and broadcasted by the television, was another public speech of the reverend William Stryker. He was a man who knew how to make good use of his charisma on the masses.

"Look around you… For this is but a handful of god's children." The crowd cheered, drinking every drop of venom and falsity in them like fresh water.

--

The second one was private, because it concerned just a very few people. The remaining mutants in the Xavier's academy. Emma was talking, addressing the almost empty hall, once so lively even during those events.

"Look around you… For this is all that remains." Her words carried seriousness, a hint of sadness and most of all, worry about what was to come for the mutants now that they were numbered in hundreds.

--

Another reunion was taking place in the Avenger's tower. That was the reason Wolverine and Cyclops weren't at the school at that moment. They were at the Avenger's tower along with around twenty other super-humans, discussing what was about to become law. The super-human registration act.

"So what are they saying, doctor Richards? That I'll be forced to become a federal employee or face a warrant for my arrest?" Strange was usually calm and collected like few in the world, but the situation sounded simply 'disgusting' to him. It had sounded disgusting when Tony first talked about it at their latest meeting and it still retained that quality. He was allowed some sarcasm, he guessed.

"Actually, you were one of the few post-humans they're hoping to seek a compromise with, Stephen." No wonder. Strange wasn't just a 'post-human'. He was the Sorcerer Supreme. Reed had studied Stephen's magic, and knew that if he wanted reality could be like clay in his hands.

"Pensions plans and annual vacation time? It's ridiculous." God knew how more fitting another word would have been, in Wasp's opinion. "What are they trying to do? Turn us into civil servants?"

"Looks to me like they're closing us down, Wasp." Luke Cage was a bit more pessimistic, it seemed.

"_Or making us more legitimate."_ Tony Stark tried to be the voice of rationality in the middle of the mayhem of nonsense. _"Why shouldn't we be better-trained and publicly accountable?"_

"Somebody said we should go on strike if they mess with us like this. Does anybody else think that's a good idea?" Reed took to himself the choice of giving a reply to the young Avenger's question.

"No, ah… It's Patriot, right? No, I don't think anyone here could seriously advocate a super hero strike, son."

"So what's the general consensus?" Cyclops knew that if there was someone who could give out more details, that one was Tony. He was the one dealing with Washington on behalf of the superhuman community.

"_As far as I'm concerned, Stamford was our wake-up call. What alcoholics refer to as a moment of clarity._ Tony went through that as well. _"Becoming public employees makes perfect sense if it helps people sleep a little easier."_

"I can't believe I'm hearing this." Falcon was quick to voice his disappointment and opposition. "The masks are a tradition. We can't just let them turn us into Super-Cops!"

"Are you kidding?" And Hank Pym did the same. "We're lucky people have tolerated this for as long as they have, Sam. Why should we be allowed to hide behind these things?"

"Because the world ain't so nice outside your ivory tower, bub." And Wolverine was maybe the in that room that knew that better than anyone else. Ben Grimm was quick to agree… In his own way.

"Tell me about it, stumpy. You think Johnny would have ended up in the hospital last night if morons like you wasn't out there givin' us a bad name?"

"Who knows?" The whole room turned to the glass ceiling. Another member of the Avengers had arrived at the meeting, and was now entering the tower. "But if they're forcing everybody to work for uncle Sam, I think a whole lotta people might just hang up their tights."

"Spider-Man!" Sue was one of the people who knew Peter better. Him and the Fantastic Four, him and Johnny in particular, had quite a story. So, he knew what the boy was worried about. "The secret identity thing isn't such a big deal. The Fantastic Four have been public since the very beginning, and it's never really been a serious concern."

"Yeah, well…" Dramatic pause while he opened the window with his 'spider-tentacles', like some kids had nicknamed them. "Not until the day I come home and I find my wife impaled on an octopus arm and the woman who raised me begging for her life." Maybe Susan didn't know about Peter's concern that well, if he had to give her those answers. Or they could have never even occurred to her.

"Uh, does anybody else think we're being a little paranoid here?" Nighthawk was trying to keep a relatively calm state of mind. "After all, this is all still just speculation at the moment, right?"

"No, this has been building up for a long time, Nighthawk. Stamford's just the straw that broke the camel's back." Daredevil was participating in the conversation in his own way. Talking when needed, staying in the shadows separated from the others, playing with a silver coin. "This is the end of the way we do business. You can smell it in the air."

--

In another part of the world… Well, six miles over New York, on a S.H.I.E.L.D. helicarrier, another discussion was taking place. Between Captain America and the current head of S.H.I.E.L.D., Maria Hill. She had just told Cap about the discussion in the avengers tower about what their response would be to the SRA. And Cap's sincere answer was…

"I think this plan will split us down the middle." He said, his tone serious and almost somber. "I think you're going to have us at war with one another."

"What's the matter with these guys? How can anyone argue with super-heroes being properly trained and paid for a living?" One of the assistants of Maria made that comment. Cap pitied him. If the problem had been money, Peter Parker would have hanged up his tight long ago.

"How many rebels do you estimate, Captain?" Asked the second one. The hero's simple reply was…

"A lot."

"Any majors?" Asked Hill. Again, a swift, quick reply.

"A few, but mostly the heroes who work close to the streets like Daredevil and Luke Cage."

"So, nobody you can't handle?" Steve Rogers, this time, took his time to process more than once Hill's last words in his mind. But he could find just one meaning for them. But he wanted to make sure he had heard right…

"Excuse me?"

"You heard." She said so, and then turned on a device she was holding in her left hand, shifting her gaze to it. "This proposal goes to vote in two weeks' time and could be law in as little as a month. But we can't go in half-cocked. We're already developing an anti-superhuman response unit here, but we need to make sure the Avengers are onside and that you're out there leading the Avengers."

"Forget about it." Cap couldn't believe that the woman had had the nerve of asking him something like that. "You're asking me to arrest people who risk their lives for this country every day of the week."

"No, I'm asking you to obey the will of the American people, captain." The card of American people.

"Don't play politics with me, Hill. Super Heroes need to stay above that stuff or Washington starts telling us who the super-villains are." Rejected. And it seemed that Hill had lost her patience or had already guessed what was about to happen.

"I thought super-villains were guys in masks who refused to obey the law." Cap didn't need to turn around to guess what was happening around him. He had already heard their footsteps some seconds before, and had seen them hiding in the shadows, or at least trying. And the 'chik-chak' of their rifles told him everything else. He turned his head to one side to observe them. Protective suits of ten thousand dollars each, probably with some sort of shielding against psychic attacks among other things, tranquilizers in the bullets, helmets with night and infrared vision… They wouldn't stand a chance.

"Is this the hit squad you've been training to take down heroes?" He asked plainly. Maria ignored his taunts.

"Nobody wants a war, captain. The people are just sick and tired of living in the wild west." She was losing terrain, though, if she was starting to use jokes.

"Masked heroes have been a part of this country for as long as anyone can remember."

"So's Smallpox. Now grow up and stop being an idiot, huh? Nobody's saying you can't do your job."

"It's just time you went legitimate like the rest of us, soldier." They wouldn't listen. They just wouldn't listen, or they just ignored what he was saying. He was going to get out of there, but those soldiers deserved at least a warning.

"Weapon down, boys."

"Stand your ground, gentlemen. Captain America is not in command here." Too bad for them. He tried a bit more forcefully.

"Weapons down or I will not be responsible for what comes next…"

"Tranquilizers on, boys. Get ready…" That smug smile… Did she really think… He exploded.

"This is insane! Completely insane! Damn you to hell for this, Hill…"

"Damn you to hell for making me do it… Tranquilizers! Now!" Did she really think those soldiers stood a chance?

--

There had been rumors, now it was finally happening. Right after Emma's speech, the woman had told the last set of students to prepare for their departing. They had less than an hour. After everyone was prepared, the teachers guided them just outside Salem Center, where a bus would take them out of the school and back to their families, in secret. They used the old Morlock Tunnels.

From what he could 'read' in his own head, Naruto knew that the Morlocks were mutants who could not pass for normal because of the grotesque appearance their mutation brought on them, and they then grouped up and transferred themselves into a network of tunnels beneath Manhattan that were later discovered to have a bigger extension. After a series of tragedies, the Morlocks no longer lived there. But they still were a good way of moving unnoticed.

"… Is this really necessary? I mean, they don't seem to like it very much…" Cessily had just said hi to an acquaintance of her, named Callie, before she boarded the bus. And then the hellions had saluted their departing member, Brian, alias Tag.

"But it's only natural, I suppose…" Cessily was already walking back to the tunnels along with Naruto, while the bus started its engine. "This is a school for mutants. Humans are out of place, here… Other than endangered."

"I guess, but…" Naruto had observed their faces. Some were so sad that he was almost feeling sad as well for them. Empathically. Josh's words fit perfectly. "This still sucks."

"Big time. Guess we've only got the Scarlet Witch to blame…" Cessily shook her head from side to side. Then, turned to Naruto. "By the way, what's the matter with Laura?"

"Laura?" Cessily nodded.

"I saw that… Well, she's kinda opening up. To the point that…" The mercury-girl decided to take a few instants of pause to think about the words to use. "Well, she's acting… Affectionate. But the point is, only to you."

"Ah. Well, the thing is…" Pamf. The noise had been very silent because it came from afar. But Naruto had managed to hear it anyway. Laura did too, since she was looking around as well. Cessily noticed this. "What was that noise?"

"What noise?" Naruto kept on looking around and then… He saw it. It was becoming bigger and bigger, and it was aimed for the bus. But he didn't know what it was, but he had an intuition that it was something harmful. Laura knew better. She knew that it was something that went boom on contact with its target, if she had to explain it in few words. And she did what came instinctively to her. She shouted…

"Ambush!" The object landed. And it was hell on earth. It hit the bus. The vehicle burst into flame, exploding, sending metal and other… Pieces flying everywhere around them, lighting the night of red, reducing it to a blazing wreckage in a matter of seconds. Naruto was paralyzed. He didn't… Everything had happened so fast that he hadn't still grasped what had just perspired. He could hear Cessily's desperate cries, and he saw Noriko ran past him straight forward… Just to cry for help right after finding the body of a friend.

Naruto shook his head and ran forward as well. It wasn't the time to stand there. He would think about what had exactly happened later. For now… There were flames. There had been an explosion. And there were people inside the thing. He ran forward passing by a speechless Santo.

Laura had already acted. She was clawing through the wreckage in an attempt to free some survivors. He had heard Julian calling Brian's name with all the voice in his body, then flying in the air to open the wreckage. He saw Brian. He headed for him, calling out for his name… Another explosion. Naruto stopped walking right before the explosion took place, dodging a massive burn. Julian wasn't that fortunate. The explosion hit him head on. He would have burns and other kind of injuries. From the landing, this time. He then jumped inside it. Screw the burns. They would heal. He heard Josh scream to Laura that he could save the dead boy she had uncovered from the wreckage.

He started searching the bus along with Noriko, just to be blasted by Sooraya's sand form. She was so disturbed that she couldn't control it perfectly, and had ended pushing a big piece of metal on top of the blue-haired girl. She returned in her human form to help Noriko back on her feet… And then to start crying desperately as well once she saw three bodies she had uncovered. Fortunately Cessily was quick to come by their side to recover. Suddenly, more lights lightened the place. He heard the pilot start his usual speech for runaway mutants… Just to call for god's name when he understood what exactly he was looking at, from up there.

"…" Naruto looked around, standing among the flames. He saw bodies. Flames. Death. Simple, pure, death. Nothing more, nothing less. Whoever did this did it for the sole purpose of killing its targets. With precision and without mercy. And he suddenly understood what that little girl had felt like. Out of the world, unable to understand, to see behind all that senseless death… "… God… Why?"

--

"Um, am I the only one here who can see a big, dome-headed guy staring at everybody?" Stephen strange found that definition fitting for their suddenly appeared guest. Spiderwoman indeed. They shared some humor. Hence the rumors of incestuous relationships between her and Spidey… Sick people, he says. He introduced him nonetheless.

"His name is the Watcher, Spider-Woman, and he only appears to record moments of great change and enormous upheaval." Translated in English, it means that he's a guy who only appears to observe when big amounts of shit hit the fan. "His presence does not bode well."

"Uh." Cyclops heard his communicator blip. A fellow X-Man was trying to contact him. He picked up the 'call'. "Cyclops here. Emma? What… … You can't… … We'll be there shortly." Cyclops closed the call and turned to Wolverine. "Logan… Something happened at the school."

--

The second time. The second time in his life and in less than a week that he helped people uncover and bring somewhere else corpses. They had been good to him, though. They let him carry the ones still in one piece. After that, he had offered to help preparing the burial and the funeral, but Logan just told him to get some rest. He had already seen 'too much shit'. After that, he had kept mostly to himself. Most of the students did. He had opted for sitting on the grass under a tree.

Naruto's line of thought mostly was this. There were people there who could destroy mountains and bring an end to life on the earth… And they couldn't stop a single missile from hitting a school-bus? How ironic was that? How cruel was that? But Naruto wasn't the kind of guy who would blame other people. He was the kind of guy who blamed himself. He had heard and seen the missile arrive before the others. He had seen it head for the school-bus. Going for the kill. But he couldn't do anything. Why?

"… Because I'm a close-range type." He held his face with both hands. He had heard it from a lot of people. He wasn't the kind of guy who could hit things from afar. He was the kind of guy who did his thing at close range. It was in his character. But back home, it was okay. Ninja acted in teams, each compensating the other. But in that world… There weren't missions. There weren't targets, clients to protect, ninjas compensating and telling him what to do or doing what he couldn't when needed. Last night, they needed someone who could notice the thing and do something before it landed. He had noticed that thing… But he couldn't do anything. "… Because I'm a close range type ninja."

"It's not like you could jump in front of the missile." Naruto didn't uncover his face. He recognized Cess' voice. He heard her soft steps and her frame sitting beside him. "There wasn't…"

"There was. There could have been." Naruto had been there for a very little time, but he was a guy who quickly got attached to places and people. He didn't know all of the guys who had died in that fire personally, but he felt that what had happened was a terrible thing. And he felt the sadness, the anger, the grievance of the people around him that he knew. Cessily, Sooraya, David… For him, those guys would just be names and faces. For them, they were friends. "I'm a ninja, you know… And they have always said that my best trait is that I know how to improvise. You didn't see the missile till Laura shouted, but I… I saw it."

"… You couldn't do anything." Naruto uncovered his face.

"I could have…" He looked at the armband on his arm. The one strange gifted him with. And he understood that he still didn't know how to use it. How to use Kyuubi's chakra. He remembered that when he used its power without the armband, the chakra would be controlled by the Kyuubi. It was like they were thinking in synchrony. And the Kyuubi did things with the chakra. Turned it into a protective bubble to shield him… But most of all… The fox created big ass appendages of chakra that could grab things and throw them with enough force… He remembered that number he pulled on Sasuke. He had turned the first bracelet, that evening. Trying to do that, to pull that stunt again… He couldn't. He didn't know how. Kyuubi did, in partial control of his body. It was like always. He remembered the events, but he didn't remember the feelings. It had been his body who had manipulated the chakra, but it had been Kyuubi who ordered it. "… If only I had been stronger…"

"If only I had noticed the missile. If only I could have survived protecting the bus from it." Naruto turned his head to the side. Cessily stared in front of her. "If only I could see the future. If only I could be everywhere." She turned to him and caressed his right cheek with her hand. "Everyone have things they can or cannot do. Sometimes we don't even remember it. But we can't do everything."

"…" Naruto brought his own hand to cover Cess' one. "I wish I could, Cess… I wish I could."

"… Right now, you can hug me." Naruto smiled a bit and complied, hugging Cess, making her lean her back on his chest. She smiled as well. "See? You accomplished something. Making me forget about what has happened around here… For a little while."

"Don't worry. I'm sure you will shed enough tears for everyone, tomorrow." Naruto kissed her on top of her head. She sure knew how to shut him up. She was good with words. 'Everyone have things the can or cannot do. Sometimes we don't even remember it'. "…" He stopped caressing her arms. _… Wait a second… Maybe…_ "… Cess…"

"Yes?" She turned her head around a full 180. He didn't freak out or anything. He had a question to be asked.

"I need a telepath." _Or maybe three…_

--

"You want our help."

"But we are still upset."

"As much as Mr Summers is a nice man, we are not anyone's groupies."

"It was just a thought. A joke… Ow! Stop filling my head with Spice Girls' songs! After the first twenty times, it gets annoying!" If you wanna be my lover… Catchy tune. But it really was getting annoying. He rubbed the top of his head. Damn. These girls sure were Emma's clones. They could be as bothersome as her. And damn him for having an idea that involved telepaths. He groaned. "Oh, come on! I've already apologized! What do I have to do?! Beg you while making compliments on your looks and brain?!"

"…" The three 'sisters' looked at each other and then back at him. Naruto slapped himself. Stupid Naruto, making good suggestions about how to humiliate him to the enemy. He groaned and got on his knees, and then lowered his head to the ground.

"I beg you for thee help, almighty Stepford Cuckoos. The magnificence of your looks are only rivalled by the powers of your minds." He raised his head again, snorting. And even if Cess had told him that the girls were unable to feel emotions of any kind after some mess involving a phoenix and diamond forms, he could swear he had seen them smile evilly. "Is that enough?"

"… For now." Phoebe said on behalf of her sisters and her. Naruto was allowed to raised his head off the ground.

"Stay on your knees, though." He groaned and did as told by Mindee. Now, it was Celeste's turn to talk.

"So… What is your request?"

"…" Naruto closed his eyes and then decided to ask that question right away. Shoot on the crowd. "You three were the ones who helped Ms Frost stop me the night I came here, right?"

"… Yes." Mindee replied. Naruto closed his eyes. Second question.

"And… You saw it?" Silence, this time. They didn't show any emotion, but that silence was more than enough for him. "You seem to have noticed that… The more the demon took over, the more powerful I became… To the cost of my will."

"Indeed."

"So?" Naruto closed his eyes. He had to weight his words.

"Everytime I got possessed by its power, even when I was still in control… There are blank spots." He couldn't explain them as anything else. "Things that I know my body has experienced but that my mind cannot seem to recall. In particular concerning…"

"How your body controlled that power, right?" Naruto nodded. Lot of insight, these sisters.

"Exactly. And when I called on a certain amount of power… I don't remember anything from those moments. I mean…" Naruto looked at his hands. "I got this power. But it's not mine. It's of the demon. Now I have control over it…" He clenched his fists. "But I don't know how to use it the same way he did. But since he did it through my body, I think that I should at least instinctively know it… But why can't I remember? I forgot?"

"The human mind remembers everything, but the connections to those memories fail." Naruto gulped. What the… They had started talking in perfect synchrony. And it was seriously freaking him out. "We can restore those connections. All of them."

"So… You can do it?" Naruto asked. The girls nodded together. And then… Their eyes flashed white. Naruto gasped, feeling much cold on his forehead. So cold that it looked like he had just hit a refrigerator with his head. He wanted to say something, but found out that his mind couldn't process a coherent thought, while he went through an 'upgrade'.

They were right. Everything… Everything was coming back to him. Memories about the Kyuubi's power, things he had forgot, like that secret stash of ramen… When… _Oh my… I almost killed him? So powerful… Orochimaru? I blasted… Just how powerful are you, Kyuubi?_ It didn't stop there. The cuckoos hadn't been selective. They were restoring every loose connection in his mind. They were going down his childhood, now…

_Ahhh… I forgot how happy I felt when I managed to pull that prank… Oh. Kiba is taking care of Akamaru's poop. Poor boy. He was still training him…_ The cuckoos didn't stop. They went back, much back… To his infancy… And then… _… What…_ What was happening? Those memories… No images. Just sounds. Thing he had heard when he couldn't open his eyes? The words… The… He couldn't… _… What… What does this mean?_ Suddenly, the feeling stopped. He fell forward, holding himself up.

"Is everything alright?" They asked. Naruto didn't pay them much mind. He kept on going through those words again and again. He had recognized one voice. It was the Third Hokage. Then, he didn't recognize anything else. There were three voices, all in all. One had heavy breathing, the other was solemn… A name… He shook his head. So what? He had just gotten some memories from when he couldn't even see because his eyes weren't open. But he scratched the back of his head. The name he had heard the Third Hokage speak… It was a very curious name indeed. "… Who the hell is Minato?"

_Continue…_

_In the next chapter…_

Naruto starts training in the use of his somehow new powers right after the funeral along with training with his new team. But another tragedy falls on the Xavier's Institute. The Purifiers attack. Stay tuned.


	9. Childhood's End III

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto nor Marvel… MEINOS SMASH.

**No Reading**

**Chapter7:**** Sniping away**

The day of the funeral had been an eventful one. First thing, the funeral himself. It was the second one Naruto ever attended in his life, and the first one in that world. Because of that, he didn't have a proper 'attire'. So, he henged into a clothed version of himself by copying Julian's clothes. Then, the speech. He wasn't one for religion, but that Nightcrawler knew how do his… Job? He didn't know how to define it. But what had shocked him was the fact that there had been a funeral there in the first place. Fifteen of the students who died had to be buried on school grounds because 'even in death, their parents didn't want them'. What kind of sick people were they?

Then, there was the matter with Julian and discovering that Sofia had left the school the day of the attack. He destroyed a window with a telekinetic blast while screaming her name to the skies. Go figure.

Then… There was the matter triggered by Laurie and her pheromones. Pheromones that were attuned to her mood at the funeral and that she let out when Naruto was passing by right after Josh pushed himself away from her. Her mood was 'not letting people who blame themselves blame themselves anymore'. So, he went and…

--

Ever since she had finished helping with the funeral's preparations, she had been nowhere to be seen. She had secluded herself in her office, where she had done nothing but look all day at the pictures of the students who had died in the attack, all laid out on her desk. That… And unfocused, her telepathy was running wild. She was picking everyone's thoughts. One had been quite… Enlightening.

Doctor Valerine Cooper. ONE's deputy director. Elisabeth Braddock, alias Psylocke, was having a quite animated discussion with one or more of her colleagues about how they hadn't been doing a very good job of protecting them. She had stopped the discussion by saying that the ONE would do anything in its power to find the culprits and that 'if anyone is to blame, is Emma Frost'. And who was she to blame her? After, all it was…

"It wasn't your fault." She raised her head in a flash. She had been so assorted in her thoughts that she didn't hear him open the door, walk in the room and close the same door behind him? He was a ninja but… She should have had at least felt his mind coming a mile away. But not only that. She had expected anyone to come and try to comfort her, sooner or later. Anyone but… Him. The same boy who had attacked her a few days ago in reaction to catching her in 'flagrante' of fucking with his girl's mind. "Don't mind what that woman said. Hell, don't mind what anyone says. Seems like most blondes are stupid like that."

"… What is this?" She returned her gaze to the desk, a smirk on her face. Naruto frowned.

"Not excusing myself, that's for sure. I still believe that what you did to Laura was terrible. And I don't even know what exactly you did to her. She wouldn't tell me." He crossed his arms in front of his chest, lessening his frown a little. "But even if I don't approve of some of your actions, it doesn't mean I don't see why you do them. I understand why you wanted to get rid of Laura and the students to leave."

"… Do you?" Emma put a hand on her face, smiling sadly, to herself.

"You wanted to protect them." Naruto softened his gaze again. "Even if in theory they weren't anymore, you still thought of them as your students. And as such, you wanted just the best for them. That's why you wanted them to leave the school."

"…" Emma picked up a picture from among all the others. Brian. "Most of them would have had much better lives than anyone in this school, now that they had become human." The boy had been one of the members of her squad, the Hellions. She had trained him personally. "Because mutants are and probably will always be hated, staying in this school would have just exposed them to further, useless risk."

"See what I mean? You wanted to give them a future." He uncrossed his arms. "It's other people who took it away from them."

"… And yet…" She put the picture back on the desk, face first. "Every time I try to do what I think it's right for my students… They end up dead."

"Because, like you said, there are always people who hate and go out of the way to hurt you. And you don't act in the same way because you want your students to grow better than that." Naruto turned around and opened the door, stopping under the frame to speak his last few words. "Till now, you've let me down only once, miss Frost. Keep it like that."

"…" He walked outside and closed the door behind him. While Emma smiled pitifully at herself… _Look at myself. I needed a brat who has punched me to lift my spirits…_

Naruto had stopped after a few meters and processed what had just happened in his mind. The question he asked himself was…

"What the hell did I just do and why?" Power of pheromones.

--

"Alright… Now, let's see." Naruto had decided to leave the eventual next phase of comforting people to another time. Right now, he had pressing matters at hand. He had walked to the Danger Room, positive that no one would be inside it. He dispelled the transformation technique, revealing the simple T-Shirt and Jeans he was wearing. "What do I remember… About that?"

With that, Naruto referred to what the Kyuubi did with its chakra. He clearly remembered being covered in chakra, and that very same chakra change shape various times. Stretching, getting bigger, projecting an enormous amount of it out like a wave, and there was that time when it became an enormous bubble to protect him from Sasuke's fire technique. _One step at a time. First, I need to cover my body or at least a part of it with chakra…_ Naruto knew about that part by his own. He had learned the procedure years ago. Tree climbing exercise. Gathering chakra and keeping it there. He started doing so… Nothing yet. He thought about it. The layer of chakra was like three-four centimetres thick, so, he probably needed to push out a very big amount of chakra. Also, he had an intuition that he really had "Hmmm…"

He turned the first bracelet. And this time he observed how the air around him flashed red. Why, he didn't really know. What mattered was the he now had more chakra to put to good use. He started focusing. In a few seconds, his forearm was completely enveloped by red chakra. He brought up his arm and turned it around a few times, observing it.

"Curious… No claws." Indeed. It was the shape of a normal human arm. "I guess it copies the shape of my body. Now, let's see…" Naruto started to focus to recall what his body remembered about when the chakra lengthened. He had to… Gather a big amount of chakra and then shoot it out all at the same time inside the appendage. The bigger the amount, the longer the appendage stretched. And for the direction… He remembered that he had to move his own arm. _It follows the movements of the real body when it is about direction… But there's something…_ Naruto had found out that having back the memories from the academy was useful too. He remembered things that he had probably only read once in his life. The thing was what he remembered about chakra. Once out and without of the body, chakra had the tendency to disperse itself in the environment. So, in theory, what the Kyuubi did with chakra should have been impossible. Then… The proverbial light-bulb got lightened above Naruto's head.

"Maybe… Maybe the fox's chakra is different? I mean, it acts like a mix between an elastic and a chewing gum…" More or less, it was fitting. All he had to do to pull back the arm was to pull back the chakra. If he didn't, the arm could stay that way. He remembered the number he had pulled on Sasuke at the Valley of the end. "Maybe… Unlike normal chakra, the fox's chakra has the opposite tendency? To gather back together? … Wow." Naruto blinked. Because of two things. First, because if he was right, he had just discovered something new about the fox's chakra. Something that no one else on earth knew. Second, if it was like that… He had discovered it. HIM. Who couldn't read more than a page at time. He grinned to himself and then laughed out loud. "It really is true! Nothing is better than body experience! Let's do this!"

Euphoric and forgetting that he would have never gotten down to anything without the cuckoos' help, Naruto raised his arm high in the air, his hand closed in a punch, and he shot it forward. The chakra at first didn't move. Then, it slowly lengthened and fell to the ground. Naruto sweatdropped. "… I guess I got the amount, the timing and the direction all wrong… I gotta work on this. I just hope it doesn't take much." _After all, I still haven't even touched the memories concerning the fourth tail state._

--

It was strange. It was like all the members of their team had instinctively gathered all in the same room. Like the people who felt more guilty about the same thing were doomed to stick together. Incredibly… Well, not all of them. One person was missing. A blonde boy who was nowhere to be seen, after the funeral. And this was getting people nervous. Cessily in particular. That because, Laura too had joined them just a few minutes before. It had been too much since she had last seen him. At least three hours. He was nowhere to be seen even at lunch. So, she took initiative.

"Do you know where Naruto is?" She asked out of the blue, still clutching protectively at the cushion she was holding. Laura slowly turned her head to her and looked at the red-head.

"Why do you assume I know?" She replied. Santo, Julian and Josh suddenly winced. It was a male reflex whenever they felt even the littlest hint of a fight between two girls. Especially if those girls were mutants. Powerful ones. Julian almost had an hearth attack when he saw Cess smirk. The girl never smirked. Not in that teasing way.

"Well, you haven't been around the whole day after the funeral too… And I noticed you two have been spending a good amount of time together." Santo could feel the tension in the room raising like ever so slightly. And coming from him, being dumber than the rock he was made of and usually not very sensitive…

"… I don't think how me and Naruto spend time when we're alone together is a matter that you should be concerned with." That blow was so low that Julian felt it too. He slowly but steadily started to walk away without being noticed. Cessily frowned but quickly returned a fake smile to her face.

"Well, we can make a deal. You tell me what you do when you're alone, and I tell you what we did last time we were alone. I'm sure it would be entertaining." Josh jumped behind the couch so fast that Quicksilver would get green with envy. Santo had ran out of the room screaming. Sooraya was praying. Noriko was… Smiling. She was looking forward to the fight. They had clearly heard a 'Snikt'. Laura had noticed that she had instinctively pulled out two of her claws.

"… I don't know why…" She returned her stare to Cess. "But I want to hurt you."

"… You can always try."

"No one will do anything like that." Julian threw his head to the sky, and he was pretty positive he had heard a choir of angels cry out 'Hallelujah'. Emma Frost had came to save the day. "I'm sure that the turmoil of emotions in your teen bodies has been driving you to gut the liver out of each other, but I don't think anyone would be willing to clean up the mess, later." She then turned to the others. "For the ones who are still sad because of what happened the last days, I know that you would like nothing more than to let it go away. To wake up from this nightmare. But this is our lives, now. And even in our darkest hour, the X-Men must find a way to push on. So I need you to pick yourselves up, try to not let the rage and sadness get the better of your judgment, put on your uniforms and meet me in the danger room in ten minutes. For I fear this is has just began." She turned to Laura and Cessily again. "Mister Uzumaki is already in the Danger Room. That's where he's been the whole morning. Happy, Cessily? Laura?"

"… Yes." Cessily nodded and sighed a breath of relief. Laura retracted her claws and walked out of the room. The redhead sighed and put a hand to her forehead. What had gotten into her? She really needed to talk to Naruto. She… _Provoking your opponents is never a good thing, in these kind of battles._ She blinked. Miss Frost was talking to her? _I can see doubt and fear in your mind… Later, we will have a special lesson about that, miss Kincaid._

_Ehm… Thanks?_ Cess was strangely confused. Since when did miss Frost start to worry about her students' love life? Emma would have replied, if she could 'When it starts being useful to my objectives'.

--

"Hehehe! That was fun… Even if I really have to practice. Ouch…" Naruto rubbed his sore nose while sitting on the floor of the danger room. He had just developed a new weapon. He just didn't feel right in calling it a technique, since its nature… Well, he had developed it. And then hurt himself with it. He had hit himself in the face. But he grinned nonetheless. Till he got the hang of shooting the arm of chakra like a bullet, that would do. Would do? He loved it. "I have to think of a name for it, though…"

"Militia. Seems you like to train individually." Naruto turned around. He had been so assorted in thinking about a name for his new weapon that he hadn't noticed the door of the danger room opening, revealing the other members of the team and miss Frost. "But I hope you are aware that training together with your team-mates is fundamental. So, try to not train too much to the point of being too…" Naruto somersaulted using his hands, landing right in front of miss Frost. Who raised an eyebrow. "Tired?"

"I don't get tired that easily, miss. Hi, guys." Naruto waved at his team-mates. Some waved back. Cessily smiled at him. Naruto then noticed Laura was observing her right hand. He blinked. What had happened?

"Good. Then, I think we shall proceed with team-training. Everyone, get in." The other seven members walked into the danger room. Naruto blinked when Julian put a hand on his right shoulder, shaking his head.

"W-What is it?"

"Nothing. I just don't know if I should call you a doomed ass or a fortunate bastard. Just try to not screw up." Naruto raised an eyebrow so high that his face got turned into a mask of he didn't know what. Julian patted him two more times and let him go. Emma clapped her hands to call their attention.

"Alright. Let's start with some pre-battle preparation. This involves a lot of thinking from the leader of the team. Surge." Noriko groaned. She still didn't understand what demon had possessed miss Frost. "A simple exercise. There are eight of yourself. In case you should split the team, how would you split it?"

"Hmmm…" Surge scratched the top of her head. She didn't take the leadership classes. But she had to tell something. She couldn't stay mute. She recalled all that she knew about her companions' abilities. "Well… In couples."

"Four couples, then. Name the members."

"Basically, the theory would be to pair up a long-range and a close-range fighter in each couple. One would be Julian and Santo, of course. They have trained in that sense before, and work well together." Naruto rolled his eyes and brought a hand to his jaw. He remembered that. Julian smirked. "Then… I would put together Josh and Sooraya."

"Why?" Asked Emma.

"Sooraya is the one who can hit people from more afar and in case of danger, she's the one who can provide the most cover for Josh. Since he's mainly our healer, we can't afford to put him in danger." Replied Noriko. Emma nodded in approval. Noriko then turned to the rest of the room. That left her, Naruto, Cessily and Laura. She cringed. _Oh, man. Cat-fighting is one thing. But this… They will hate me._ "Then… Me and Naruto and lastly Cess and Laura."

"Eh?! Why?!" Noriko groaned. She knew that that was coming. But did Cess really need to be that loud?

"Because putting together two people with a healing factor is counter-productive. I'm the last long-range fighter left, and among the three of you, Naruto is the one who can provide me with the most protection, since he can literally be in two places at the same time." She simply replied. Cess wanted to say something. To find something to say to retort… She sighed and her face fell forward. She didn't know how to talk back to a perfectly logical reasoning. Naruto mouthed a silently 'Wow'. So, Noriko wasn't all spunk.

"Good. It seems you at least know how to balance strong and weak points." Emma nodded approvingly. "Very good. From now on, we will spend a couple of hours each day working in pairs. The pairs your leader has just described." Cess really, really wanted to punch Nori in the face. "Then, we're going to work in real battle simulations with the whole team. Working in pairs is convenient, but you will not always be able to do that."

"Yes, ma'am." Naruto mocked a military salute, before walking to Cess and Laura, grinning. Cessily raised her head. "I think you two together can totally rock! Do your best!"

"…" Laura nodded. "I will." Cess sighed. What could he say to that grin?

"Alright, alright. I'll try…"

--

She did try. But in the end, she had found herself suggesting a 'spar' between her and Laura to 'weight and gather information' on each other's fighting style. And what a 'spar'. Julian didn't know if he had ever seen Cess trying so hard to injure someone else. Naruto just thought they were taking training seriously. In the end, it had come to a draw. Cessily wasn't that easy to hurt with claws and other non-energetic attacks, but Laura had her healing factor, and she wasn't that easy to hit. Stop. The red-head felt better. Blowing out some 'steam' was enough to her. She had managed to hit her in the face, after all.

"… A good fight." That comment from Laura made her blink. She had just… Complimented her? "You should try to make better use of your shape-shifting. Be more… Creative."

"Ehm… Thanks. I'll try." Now, she was confused. Weren't they at each other's throat just a few minutes ago? And hadn't she started the whole thing because of what happened before? Little did she know that the very concept of jealousy wasn't known to X-23 at all. But while thinking about this, Naruto suddenly 'landed' on both their shoulders with his arms.

"That some spar! You girls could wipe the floor with most of the people I know back in my world…" He thought about it. Maybe it was a bit too much. "Well, all Chunin level guys." Cess immediately forgot about her confusion and jealousy. He was just that effective.

"Naruto… Do you understand that we don't know what a Chunin is, right?"

"Whoops."

"For today, we're done. Tomorrow we will get down to team training."

"Well, what do we want to do after dinner?" Cessily was happy that Naruto had asked her. The blonde's intention was to make the three of them do the same thing. But if she suggested something that she found stupid, she would leave them alone, probably.

"Well…" _Think of something she would never like… Ah! Mr McCoy's old DVD!_ She smiled and turned to Naruto. "Well, I was think about watching some old cartoons. I've wanted to watch Beast Wars for a while…"

"Cool name! Now I'm curious!"

"… Cartoons? Beast Wars?" Cessily had hit the spot. She found the thing stupid. Blasphemy if you ask me. How can anyone find stupid Beast Wars out of every Transformer Series? I mean… Ehm, nevermind. But little did she know that when face with new situations and things she wasn't familiar about, Laura had taken a habit of using a virtual Naruto station that had taken place inside her head. "… I'll join you." Cessily's jaw hit the floor. Literally. She can do that as well.

--

"Another tissue?"

"T-Thanks… Prooooot!" It seems that it had not been such a good idea. They had seen all the episode till the one where Dinobot died. And Dinobot was Naruto's favourite Transformer. That's how he had become a crying mess. Well, she had seen it happen to many, many kids, but to a 16 years old? Well, he had never seen a cartoon before, after all. And Beast Wars wasn't just a cartoon. It was THE cartoon. But the crying feat had had a good effect. Laura didn't know what to do to stop Naruto's crying, so confusing and new was the situation to her. So she got dragged back to their room by Sooraya, leaving Cessily to take care of the grief-struck Naruto alone… In her room. "Sniff… He was a hero…"

"Oh, for god's…" She grabbed his head and forcefully turned him around to face her. "Would you stop whining for a fictional character?"

"B-But…"

"No buts." She then shoved him on his back on her bed. "You either stop whining or you get no nookie, tonight."

"No…" He then blinked and turned his head around a few times. They were in her room? He turned to her again. "When in the blazes did you bring me here?"

"See what crying can do to you? You don't even notice your surroundings." She sat on his stomach, earning a 'Ouch' from him. She smiled. "So, wanna get out of that T-Shirt yourself or do I have to rip it apart?" He blushed and moved what needed to comply with her desires.

"You sure are… Kinky?"

"Kinky Kincaid, they somewhat call me." He raised an eyebrow and she chuckled. She then leaned on him. Naruto shivered when he felt her coldness on his bare chest. "Just kidding. But I've been getting no 'action' ever since I turned into this when I hit puberty. And for girls that's fourteen years old. So…"

"Two years?" He asked.

"Two years." She closed her eyes and leaned in. She kissed him on the lips and moved them a bit. Not a very 'dirty' kiss, but it sure was sensual. Naruto put his hands on her hips and kissed her back. She broke the kiss again with a smile. "You're so cute…"

"You too. No, scratch that. You're pretty." She blushed again. Then Naruto grinned. "By the way… Even if you're turned into mercury, you can still, like, feel? You have sensitivity?"

"Uh? What do you mean?" Naruto grinned. Time to get mischievous. He moved his hands a bit more far down.

"I mean, if I do this…" Cessily gasped and blushed even more. "Do you react 'normally'?"

"You…" She gasped even more and then looked at him with a smile that said 'You really shouldn't have done that'. She rubbed her hands on his chest. "You've got a lot of nerve, teasing someone who can shapeshift her whole body into what she wanted…"

"I guess that all the pleasure points react in the same way, then." He stuck her tongue out to her and did 'that' again.

"S-Stop that!" She said, slapping him on the chest in retort. Naruto grinned.

"Or else?"

"… I don't need you to get out of your clothes, you know…" Naruto suddenly blinked when he saw Cess's right arm 'melt' and the 'puddle' head for the hem of his... He suddenly gasped.

"C-Cess! Where do you think you're stuffing your… Oh my… God!" She just grinned. It was gonna be a long night, for him.

"Don't worry. I'll stay away from that spot."

--

Naruto suddenly felt screwed. Because he and Cessily hadn't rested much, that night. And they would need every once of their energy to do that… Very… Simple team training exercise.

"You've got to be kidding me…" He said. He had fought with the man in four tails, he remembered. And as a 'normal mutant' he wasn't sure if he wanted to. Especially since he had just seen him throw Santo through a wall like it was a ball of paper.

"You telegraphed your attack, Rockslide. And you dropped this." Peter launched to Santo back his hand, hitting him in the head with a comical 'Plink'. All had happened under the gaze of his team-mates and Emma Frost.

"This is a simple exercise." She said. "All you have to do is knock Colossus down."

"ALL YOU HAVE TO DO?!" Naruto was the one to voice how opposed to 'simple' that was. Peter just kept his serious face.

"Now let's try this again." Santo took it as an invite to rush in again. Naruto blinked.

"H-Hey! Didn't you hear miss Frost? We…" Nothing. And Colossus just pushed away Santo's fist like he was a fly and then slammed him facefirst into the ground.

"Clumsy." Clang. Josh had tried to hit him in the back of the head with a bar of steel. Of course, to no absolute avail. Nothing at all. "There are seven of you. Work as one." Exactly what Naruto had tried to explain to Santo before he bullrushed Colossus again. And the problem was that he wouldn't understand the joke because he didn't know shit about D&D. He, instead… Another curse to telepathy. Colossus turned around and grabbed Josh by the jacket. "You are letting your emotions control you, Elixir. Anger will not defeat me. Use your abilities."

"I don't have any abilities! How am I supposed to stop you?!" He replied.

"You above all the others could stop me with just a touch." Naruto made a note to reflect on that sentence later. Wasn't Josh a healer? But he prepared himself for what was coming next. "But until you can think clearly, you are only a threat to yourself."

"Aaaah!" Colossus throwing Josh away against a wall. Naruto saw that coming and sprinted forward, catching the boy and sliding down to his knees to soften the impact. He let him on the ground. Josh winced nonetheless. Naruto was more built than him. He had gotten hurt nonetheless. But the metal wall would have hurt more. "Thanks…"

"No problem." He replied, before turning to Colossus again, after hearing some kind of electrical noise.

"Uh, shouldn't you be screaming in pain?" Noriko had taken advantage of the opening created by Colossus' throw to jump on him and unleash her electrical fury on him. Finally something able to hurt him a little. Emphasis on 'little'. She noticed too that her thunders weren't as effective as she thought they would have been. "Uh… Shouldn't you be screaming in pain?"

"I've been hurt far worse." Colossus just smirked. "Your concern, Surge…" He suddenly grabbed one of her gloved arms. "Should be for your team-mates."

"What?" She didn't like that smirk. Not at all.

"Aaaaah!" And she didn't like when Colossus used her own arm to make her attack Cessily who had tried to sneak up on him and failed, it seemed. She almost lost it.

"No! No, stop!"

"Your enemies will not stop." Colossus then did the same to Laura, who had tried the same manoeuvre, to no avail. She got zapped as well. "They will never stop!" Noriko couldn't do anything but watch Laura fall to the ground severely burned. She let her down on the ground. "You're running out of team-mates, Surge."

"What am I supposed to do?!" She got angry. She hated feeling so powerless.

"You are the team's leader, Surge. This your burden." Naruto noticed the emphasis the Russian had put on the word burden. And he had also noticed that Josh had disappeared from his side. And when he noticed what he was doing, he thought 'Crazy bastard'. "You have to find a way to win. If you don't, your friends will die."

"Shut up!" Josh had attacked Colossus one more time. Barehanded. Naruto rushed in one more time, starting to suspect that the boy was mental or something.

"Elixir, I admire your persistence…" Colossus just pulled him off his shoulders and then stuck him to the wall using some pieces of debris. "But you are going to get yourself hurt."

"Get your hands off me! Let me go!" Naruto palmed his face. This was pointless. And he was sure of it when he noticed Julian still standing there, haven't done anything from the start of the battle. Ignoring Nori's words, he just ordered to Sooraya to attack Colossus.

_They didn't teach them much, it seems… Or maybe the just don't get along with each other. But you can't let those kind of things get in the way of your judgment in a fight. I learned that the hard way._ Naruto just kept on observing while Peter pulled out a water pipe from the ground and forced Sooraya to return to a physical form, commenting on how poorly she was using her impressive abilities. Then, finally Julian decided to do something. Pompous idiot.

"All right, X-Men. It's time for you…" He unleashed all the fury and power of his telekinesis, wrecking everything around him… "To go down!" Except for Colossus. The X-Man just walked through his telekinetic field like it was a flower field, and punched him into Surge. He groaned. And Emma Frost decided to step into the room at last, her eyes on him.

"Militia… How come you haven't acted yet?" She asked him. She had a feeling that his reply was going to be enlightening for the rest of his team.

"Because if this was a real battle and Colossus had been using his full power, I would have been the only one still alive, right now. I understood that from the beginning of the battle." Naruto sighed, focusing his gaze on Julian. "The purpose of this exercise was to make us complete the mission as a team, as in, working together to stay all alive in the process. We haven't done any of that. To people like them, still inexperienced about real fights, teamwork is their best weapon."

"P-People like us?! What about you?! You…"

"I'm a ninja, idiot. I've learned about working in a team long ago." Naruto interrupted Julian's rant before he could even start it. He then turned to Colossus. "And I've been trying to learn how to fight by myself, if necessary. Now, if I just have to knock mister Rasputin down… I think I can do it. But as I've already said, the exercise was a failure."

"… Continue." Said Emma. Naruto immediately dropped into a battle stance. The white queen could tell that what he had told was the complete truth. She had seen what he had been through. And that brought to her mind the conversation she had had with Tony Stark that same morning…

--

It had been really spectacular. It had sorted its effect. Unmasking Spider-Man on television in front of the whole state. If the students hadn't been grieving and had actually been watching television, that evening, they would have went crazy. Tony was sure that the act would have made a lot of people change their mind about the registration act. So, time to scan the field for new recruits. And he just had a few places he needed to check. One of these was the Xavier's institute for higher learning. And they sure knew how to brew orange juice.

"This must be the first time you and I have been alone since Marrakesh, Miss Frost." Said Tony to open the discussion with the white Queen, while pouring himself some of the beverage. "Tell me: does Cyclops know about that little arrangement we used to have when neither of us were dating?"

"Oh, Cyclops knows everything, Tony." Replied truthfully Emma. She really told Scott everything. He was probably the only person in the world who she showed her sweet side to. "He cant' keep secrets from my telepathic mind, so it's only fair that I don't keep anything from him."

"My. You really have changed." Tony's reaction was genuine. Wasn't this the woman who held men in the palm of her hands using her mind powers? He gulped down a bit of the juice, before resuming his talk. "Obviously, you know what I'm about to ask. Is there any point in verbalizing?"

"Not especially." Emma shook her head from side to side slowly. "We had a meeting just last night and decided that helping you hunt down these anti-registration rebels would be a violation of everything the X-Men believe in."

"Even with ninety-percent public backing? And that boyfriend of yours so keen to curry favor with the white house again?" Time to pull out the card of political and public image.

"Perhaps we just know what it's like to be persecuted when you're fighting the good fight, mister Stark." No effect. Tony didn't roll high enough on his Diplomacy check.

"Ask moms and dads in Stamford if they think Captain America's still fighting the good fight." Genocide card.

"Oh, please. Don't try to blackmail me with genocide. Do you really want to compare notes?" Tony rolled a natural 1 on this one. Emma decided it was time for a little illusion to appear. Precisely… An island once home to 16 millions of mutant, now an enormous graveyard. "Where were the Avengers when Genosha died, Iron Man? Where were you when our babies were burning?"

"I thought you were supposed to be looking after the interest of your students, Emma. Is it really wise to put them on a collision course with the American government?" Students card. Last one. But it seemed like Emma was a fine D&D Player.

"Oh, we don't want a fight, darling. We're perfectly happy to remain on this reservation they've made for us." The illusion started to fade. "All we ask is that you leave us alone and, in return, you have our word that we won't join forces with your star-spangled friend." And then she put on that smile. That smile that she always put on when the conversation ended positively in her favour. "Your choice, mister Stark."

"…" Tony sighed and drank another bit of his orange juice. "Well, then there's the other matter that I came here to discuss."

"…" Emma searched Tony's mind again. And she was surprised by what she had found. Information about Naruto's DNA. "… Only half mutant and the other half unknown."

"That the boy isn't from this planet. Or this dimension, at least." Tony played with the ice cubes in his glass, making it move in a round circle. "That's why I want to examine him directly. To find out more about him and the place he comes from. I believe that would be convenient for you too, right?"

"…" Emma had thought about it ever since Naruto first appeared in their world. The reading gave him sometimes as a mutant. And now she had had the confirmation. So that meant that maybe in his world there were other people like him or better yet full-blooded mutants. The probability was very high, judging from what she had seen in his memories. So… Even if she hated to admit it, Tony was right on that matter. "I will talk to him, but if he says no, we can't oblige him. He isn't exactly a student of this school."

"Yet, he acts like one." A compliment. To the boy, the school, the teachers and the students. All with five words. Natural 20, mister Stark.

--

"Alright…" Naruto dropped into a battle stance. From what he had seen till now, the terrain could be damaged and destroyed, and Colossus would just defend himself. Not attack. He crossed his fingers. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"

"… Nori…"

"What?" Surge was a bit itchy because of what had just happened. But Sooraya just wanted to ask an innocent question.

"I don't understand Japanese. What did he say?"

"… Literally… Shadow Clone Technique."

"Alright! Here I come!" Naruto had multiplied into other nine copies. Eight of them immediately attacked Colossus. The X-Man stood his ground.

"Impressive… But bigger numbers aren't going to help you, in this matter."

"I know! The clones aren't meant to slow you down!" Colossus blinked when he saw the clones pick out a kunai and grab them with both hands, handles down… And then stab themselves just before approaching him. It seemed like Colossus didn't know that when they exploded, Kage Bunshins burst into clouds of smoke.

"A diversion… Clever."

"Ah!"

"That's the spirit." Colossus couldn't help but compliment Naruto on his tactic even while he felt the ground crumble under his feet, the releasing of the Rasengan on the ground clearing the smoke and letting the room see clearly how the remaining clone had struck the ground just beneath Colossus' feet with the technique, disappearing in the process but making the X-Man loose footing for a moment, while the real Naruto had turned the first bracelet and pushed all the chakra to his feet and hands, sprinting forward at high speed. He couldn't afford to be caught by the russian's arms before he landed on his chest, bounced immediately back and pushed him on the ground. A meter back, but he wasn't currently using his feet to contact the ground. He was using his butt. "… Good. Very good."

"Ouch… But I should have used more chakra." Naruto thanked god for having a healing factor. He had broke both his wrists and ankles. But he had succeeded in his objective. He had knocked down Colossus.

The reactions in the rooms were mixed. Santo was still unconscious. Sooraya and Cess were in awe. Surge was biting her lips while staring on the ground. Laura just observed him like she usually did, having just regenerated the first layer of skin again. Julian was gritting his teeth, his head turned around. Josh was… Grasping hard on the metal bar while looking at the ground. Emma decided that for the day it was enough.

"This exercise is over. The objective was accomplished, but seven of you died for defeating a single enemy. That isn't an acceptable outcome. That was… Enlightening." Colossus retransformed back in his human form and got back on his feet. Emma turned to him. "Thank you for your help, Peter. It is always appreciated."

"Of course, Emma. Neither of us wish to bury any more children." And then Naruto had the proof that Josh had gone mental. Because of his face, his gaze. But mostly because he had just struck Peter behind the head with the metal bar right after he had turned back to flesh and blood. "Uh!"

"Then, why didn't you save them?!" He had completely lost it. "I saved your life! Why couldn't you save theirs?!"

"Damn, Foley…" A rightful comment. Naruto suddenly punched him into the face. "And Damn, blondie…"

"Have you fucking lost your mind?!" Naruto had done that because he felt like doing it to make Josh regain his senses. And because Emma had just turned to Diamond Form. And he would have probably hurt him far worse. He then pulled him by the jacket and raised him above his head. "Hitting him behind his head with a bar?! You could have killed him!!" He shook him like a rag doll a bit. "I don't know what has gotten into you, but snap out of it! You can't go around…"

"Uzumaki, enough. Let him on the ground." Naruto stopped because of Emma's order. But when he was about to do so. "No, wait. Not yet." He frowned. So confusing… Emma turned to Josh. "Elixir, if you ever pull a stunt like that again, I'll erase every happy memory you have. Do you understand me?"

"Nnngh…" The punch had hurt. And the shaking had been a little too violent.

"I'll take that as a yes." Emma turned her head to Naruto again. Her gaze was 'release him'. He did so. "And as of right now, you're off the team."

"Coff… Hukk…" Josh massaged his throat, while Emma turned around, to the door, and walked through it along with Colossus.

"The rest of you will continue tomorrow and I expect your performance to be much improved." She said as last words. Naruto stared at Josh for a bit more before sighing.

"What a mess…"

--

**Intermission: Omake**

_Militia Fansite  
IRC Chat Log_

DaCloneMan: So, who you guys think Militia will end up with?  
Blondie: Didn't we debate this already?  
DaCloneMan: We did, but we gots new people here. Besides, didn't you see the way he was looking at Surge?  
Blondie: Get over it, DCM. Militia/Surge is never gonna happen.  
DaCloneMan: It could happen! They're both kinda asian, got funky hair, and work together!  
Blondie: She's got Prodigy, dude.  
3-4-All: Militia/3in1! That would be so hawt!  
DaCloneMan: wut?  
Blondie: huh?  
3-4-all: There's like hundreds of him and 3 of them! Gangbang! He's japanese, he should know Bukkake!  
Blondie: I'm going to ignore you now.  
DaCloneMan: Ditto.  
DaCloneMan: Anyone else got a take on the ever-present pairing debate?  
Blondie: Militia/Mercury! Didn't you see the way that he went all nuts when she got stepped on by a sentinel? He blew up like 40 of them!  
DaCloneMan: It was 5. Besides, how would you do anything with her? She's metal.  
Blondie: Doesn't matter. True love knows no physical form!  
MiliHelli4Eva: MILITIA HELLION ARE THE TRU ROMANE ON THE TEAM! SO MUCH SEXAUL TESNION!  
Blondie: You're my new hated foe here.  
DaCloneMan: What he said.  
3-4-All: That was an image I really didn't need.  
3-4-All: and MH4E? Press Caps Locks.  
MiliHelli4Eva: THANKS1 ITS SO MUCH EASYER TO RITE NOW11!  
DaCloneMan: Oh god, make it stop.

**End of Intermission**

--

"I can't believe something like that happened."

"Maybe… We should talk to Miss Frost. I mean, putting him off the team…"

"… She was right." Everyone turned to Naruto. After what had happened, Josh had just stormed out of the danger room refusing any physical contact or word anyone tried to utter to him. So, the rest of the team had gathered in the cafeteria to discuss the matter. And that comment from Naruto, he, was so easygoing and solar, the opposite of Emma… "Cess, I know that he's your friend, but there are no excuses for what he has done."

"B-But he was angry…" Tried to say the redhead. Naruto interrupted her.

"Exactly." This silenced her again. Naruto scratched his right cheek, sighing, trying to think of good words to use. "When you're angry, you can be angry with a lot of things. Yourself, other people, the world… Josh is angry with himself and the world. But instead of cutting himself or something like that…" Laura winced at that, surprising herself too. "He lets his anger get the best of him and hurts the people around him. He could have killed mister Colossus, Cess."

"…" Mercury sighed and lowered her head. He was right and she knew it. But it was still hard to accept that one of your friends could do something like that. "So, what?"

"As long as he's unstable he can't be on the team. He needs to sort out his anger issues, or he could be as dangerous as the enemies in a mission." This time it was Laura who talked. Naruto nodded. Like Iruka-sensei had said once in a lesson, 'Anger is a weapon only to your opponent'… He was inclined to add 'Unless you're Wolverine'.

"Josh… Have you seen him?" Naruto turned his head around in a flash, his eyes meeting the third blonde he had met in that school. This was a girl. Laurie. "I… I was looking for him, and… I can't find him."

"I think… He's probably venting off somewhere. He needs that, in my opinion." Replied Julian, sighing in exasperation right after. Laurie lowered her gaze, saddened.

"I… I see. Excuse me…"

"Laurie…" Cessily stood up and tried to call for the girl, but the girl just turned around and hurried out of the room. The redhead stared at her retiring back until she got out of the room. She sat back, holding her head with both her hands. "Who told her?"

"… I did." Replied Nori. Cessily just kept on holding her face with her hands. _Why? Why is this happening? Why is everything going to hell?_ She then remembered Naruto's last words. She turned to him. "N-Naruto… Do you think that…"

"…" Naruto understood what Cessily had thought about. Josh was actually in the part where he vented his anger on other people. Especially the one who tried to comfort him or to at least be near him. So… That would make Laurie a nice target. "Want me to keep an eye on them?"

"… Please." She asked. She didn't think she had the heart to… Get violent on Josh like he did. Naruto nodded and walked out of the room, following Laurie silently.

--

A day had passed. A lot had happened. A sniper setting himself up near the school. Jay disappearing from the infirmary and having an enigmatic talk with Sooraya before leaving the school. But most had been unknown to Naruto since he had promised Cessily that he would keep an eye on Laurie. And he hoped that Josh was still rational enough to remember to not hit girls.

Laurie had been searching for him all day, and she had finally managed to catch him in the school backyard. His mood hadn't changed at all.

"Josh, wait!" She had managed to reach. She didn't know if it had been because of her persistence or because he had decided to listen to her. She wanted to believe it was the latter. He didn't turn around, though. "Nori told me what you did in the training exercise." Nothing. He just kept on walking. Laurie hated that. "Josh, what's going on with you? Why won't you talk to me?" Nothing. Naruto just kept on observing. He was just being silent. He had seen Sasuke doing it sometimes, when he got outmatched into something… But it didn't last much. "Look, I know it's my fault and I'm sorry." Naruto blinked at that, and popped his head out of the three he was hiding into to hear better. Her fault? How the hell did she come out with that explanation?

"For what?" Josh seemed at least as curious as Naruto about her reasoning. But he snapped at Laurie nonetheless.

"For telling you to train." Naruto blinked some more. "You don't belong on miss Frost's team. You're better than that."

"You don't know what you're talking about." He lowered his voice. It was a snarl.

"Yes, I do." This actually caused him to stop. Laurie took this chance to continue talking. "All this… This violence and fighting… It isn't you, Josh. You're a healer. What you do is beautiful. This…" She took a pause. "This is just ugly and wrong."

"…" Josh paused as well, but not for much. He turned to her with the most vicious and angry face he had seen on his face ever since Naruto knew him. "If I'm a healer, why can't I fix your arm?"

"… He can't…" That came new to Naruto as well. Laurie had told everyone that Josh was 'working on it'… And now he just said that he couldn't?

"Kevin held it too long… There's nothing left to heal. You know that." Laurie decided to be a little more forceful. She placed her hands on his arms and held him. But Josh's expression didn't soften at all. "My arm… The bus… They are not your fault." Josh got even angrier, if possible, and pushed her away.

"Don't tell me about the bus, Laurie! You weren't there!" His tone of voice went from silent angry to loud angry.

"I know, but Sam told me what happened… How you tried to save everyone." Even when she was holding him, Laurie hadn't found the strength to scream at him. She was trying to be his opposite, to balance him.

"Yeah, I tried… But everyone I touched was dead…" He took a pause, lowering his arms with his punches gripped. He suddenly gripped them even stronger. "Everyone but DJ." He returned to his shielding pose, holding his fists to waist's height. "I could feel him dying… His life bleeding out of him. I held on to it with everything I had… I didn't let go…" His voice had become lower again. And Naruto could understand why. Remembering what he was remembering… Shook his very being, didn't it? And it was starting to shake Laurie too. "My hands, my bones and blood burned but I never let go… But he still died…"

"Josh…" Laurie tried to say something but the golden boy interrupted her. He turned his head to his right side, and was slowly raising his voice again, word by word.

"And when he died, he took a piece of me with him. A piece of me died, too. Now I feel cold… Dead… Empty. And I'll never get that piece back… Never!" He turned his glaring head to Laurie again. The poor girl was almost on the verge of tears. "So whoever did this to us… To me… Is going to die." That shook Laurie worse than all the other words. But the worst was still to come. "And I'm going to be the one who kills them…"

"Josh, no." She was using a begging, sad, low tone. But he was about to drop the final bomb on her.

"You don't know anything about me, Laurie! So stay th…"

"No. You shut the fuck up." Ninja speed and chakra enhancements. He had already turned on one bracelet. He felt like it, since he was the one getting angry at that moment. "I was just asked to observe, but I got sick tired of you talking to Laurie that way. She just wants to help you! Like everyone else!"

"… You again…" Josh gritted his teeth… And found that he had forgotten to heal one from the punch Naruto had unleashed on his chin.

--

He had been waiting for his mark all day. When it finally came in sight, when it finally god's will was about to be done… Someone else had appeared. Someone who had not been seen in the vision. Someone who the great father hadn't told him about. An interference… What was he supposed to do? He thought about it. Even if there was this new occurrence, the target's danger to their crusade was still a real tactile fact. They would think about this anomaly later. He took aim.

--

"Leave me alone! The both of you!"

"Stop this, damn it! She's just trying to help! Hell, she was even blaming herself for what's happening to you!" Naruto retorted back. He was thinking about trying four tails of power on the guy's ass. He had already turned three bracelets.

"She can help me… Everyone can help me… By leaving me alone!" Josh suddenly had another last attack and pushed Naruto away showing more strength than the ninja thought him to be able to display, sending him bumping against Laurie.

--

He shot.

_Continue…_

_In the next chapter…_

What, who will that shot hit? What will happen to the students of the Xavier's when the Purifiers attack? In the meanwhile, other forces start to take an interest in Naruto… Stay tuned.


	10. Childhood's End IV, Nimrod I

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto nor Marvel… MEINOS SMASH.

Warning. From now on, this is rated M, because of a little gore you will see. ' Sorry, but I can't help being graphical in some scenes.

**No Reading**

**Chapter8:**** Eventful dream**

The aim had been for Laurie's head. Her powers would be detrimental to the attack. They didn't have a defense against pheromones. Nor against the dust abilities of the Muslim. So, they had to get rid of both of them. Their little angel had done the work for them to draw the girl in the lion's den, but the blonde girl needed to be sniped. And so he sniped. But in the vision there hadn't been that other blonde with spiky hair. He changed the situation.

The healer had pushed him against his target, replacing it. Only that, the blonde was a bit higher than the target. So, if the shot would have hit her in the back of her head, the shot hit a bit lower the boy. As in, it run through the back of his mouth. It all happened so fast that he didn't know what had happened till he felt more air suddenly passing through his mouth, and blood and his own tongue splattering Josh's face.

"Ghhh…" Naruto fell to his knees instinctively bringing his hands to his face, feeling drops of blood falling on them. He heard Laurie and Josh scream in fright. His healing factor was already kicking in. The girl reacted fast.

"J-Josh! Heal him, please! I'll… I'll go search for help!" The target began to run. The sniper cursed. He had lost the occasion. He knew that he couldn't possibly hit her before she ran back in because he still had to recharge the rifle, and help was en route now. The headmistress had taken it upon herself to constantly scan the whole school with her telepathy. And there was no doubt that she was now looking for his mind too. He had to leave… No. He at least had to try one more shot. He at least had to injure her.

"D-Don't… Not you too!" Josh just couldn't let another person die in front of him like that. He placed his hands on Naruto's body and started using his power. And then, something strange happened. He had never seen his subject heal… That fast. He was healing faster than mister Logan, and then… Naruto started shaking. He was having some kind of seizure. "Nononono… No!" Then he opened his mouth in a gasp, taking in as much air as he could, it seemed, arching his back in an angle that Josh didn't believe possible for a human being. Then, Naruto fell to the ground, stopped moving, while foam and blood came out of his mouth. Josh didn't notice it that much. He was too focused on his unmoving eyes. "Nonono…"

"Aaaaaah!" Josh turned around in a flash, and what he saw almost stopped his heart. Laurie was on the ground too. Blood… Blood…

"NOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

--

"I'm sorry… What?" David had been called to the headmaster's office. Mainly, Scott Summers' office. But he wasn't expecting something like that.

"We've decided that it's in your best interest to stay at the institute, David." Scott knew he had to explain himself. It was indeed surprising. A couple of days before they seemed impatient to make now 'normal' students go away. Now, instead… "With the attack on the human students, as well as the presence of the Sapien League and copycat serial killers going after former mutants… You're a target."

"And this is the solution?" He was a little more than upset. "No offense, but this isn't exactly the safest place on earth, mister Summers. I'm supposed to go to school… My family…"

"Your family agrees with the decision. Besides…" He had cut him off when he saw indecision. "Would you really want to put them at risk?"

"I just… I'm so useless here." David sighed, standing up from his chair. "But it doesn't matter, does it? This has already been decided."

"I'm sorry, David." Scott offered him his most serious look and sincere tone. David just sighed some more and decided to throw in some sarcasm.

"Professor Xavier always wanted to admit human students. I just didn't think the first one would be me." You can never know what happens in life…

"Scott!" Like you can never know when Henry McCoy could come running inside your office.

"Hank? What's…"

"There's been another attack! Come quickly! And David…" The furry turned to the boy. "You should come, too."

--

"LAURIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!" He was still under in shock. He had just seen two other people, one being a girl he loved got shot in front of his own eyes. A lot of students and teachers had rushed out of the school into the courtyard. Logan was restraining Josh. He couldn't help Laurie much. She needed medical attention. Kitty had stopped the bleeding, as hard as that had been. Whoever had shot her had used one big calibre. There was an enormous hole in Laurie's right shoulder. She had passed out due to shock. Surge was holding Naruto in her arms. Not another one.

"Nononono…" A leader. She was responsible for all of them. Then, why had all these things happened?

"Everybody, inside! Now!" Bishop was trying to make the students go back inside, but to no avail. Scott, David and Hank arrived just then.

"Bishop, what's… Oh, no." That was the reaction from Scott when he saw the two bloodied students. David ran to Noriko past all the others.

"N-Nori, what happened?!"

"David, I…" David took Naruto from Nori's arms and slowly put him on the ground. He searched through his mind for all that he knew about CPR. To check breathing. Look, see, feel. Look if the ribcage expands, hear and feel the breathing… He blinked.

"He's breathing!" He shouted, breaking Noriko out of her trance. "He's alive! He's just unconscious!" The blue haired girl let out a breath she didn't even know she was holding. But then, if Naruto was alright, physically… Why wasn't he waking up?

--

"…" Naruto's eyes slowly fluttered open. He met a ceiling that he wasn't really familiar with. He shot up in a sitting position… And found that he knew the surroundings. Water, a cage with a seal on it… But, there were a few different things. Like, the fox behind the bars… It had its snout blocked from nine rings, three of which were currently deep red while the others were silver. Naruto had to restrain his laughter… He failed his will save roll. He fell on his back and started laughing.

"**I love you too, brat. As one can love a sword up their asshole."** Roared the voice of the fox, a bit muffled. It only made Naruto laugh harder. He stopped after a few minutes, and he had to rub away tears from his eyes.

"Ahhh, that was good. I was expecting something more epic from something managing to restrain the almighty nine tailed fox…" The fox emitted a low growl. And Naruto took in some more air. Time to talk about serious things. He looked around again. "By the way, why did I end up here? Last thing I remember was being shot, losing my tongue on Josh's clothes and he healing me. Then… Nothing."

"**Well, it's actually very simple. He fucked with our… My healing factor."** Naruto blinked and turned to the fox again, who emitted another low growl. **"Basically, after healing the wounds, each healing process began to see the other one as a disease, and tried to overcome the other. Your body couldn't handle it and you went into shock."**

"So… What, I'm in a coma?" The fox nodded, making a little wave that splashed Naruto.

"**Yes. But you will be awake again ****after the usual eight hours of sleep."** The fox then grinned. In his evil way. **"But I suppose I should probably thank whoever shot you in the back of the head, brat… After all, you hadn't ever sustained any brain damage, right?"**

"…" Naruto narrowed his eyes to the fox. The beast was happy that his chakra was contaminating Naruto's body more and more. The blonde boy just put on a smug look while showing him his bracelet. "Dream on, furball. There's no chance in hell I'll ever take off all of this thing."

"**I wonder about that, brat… I'm pretty sure**** someday you will have no other choice."** Naruto was a bit taken back by that. His eyes showed a mix of confusion and irritation. **"You still don't know, but there are beings in this world with powers that rival****s**** mine. And if you ever meet one of them… You will need my power, boy. My infinite chakra."**

"…" _Beings with powers that rivals his own? If he admits it, he's probably serious…_ Naruto felt his spine shiver at the thought. The Kyuubi could make tsunamis by waving its tails, it has been said. There were people in this world able to do things of that magnitude? He frowned… And then grinned again, showing the demon the finger. "As I said, dream on, f… Uh?" He noticed something. It seemed like the scenery was… Changing? Trembling? He heard the fox grow lowly again.

"**Hmmm… Seems like you have visitors… Powerful ones… Eh. From what I can tell, it's not someone of the beings I told you about, brat, but… Not quite r…"** The scenery changed in a whirlpool of colours. From the sewer, he found himself sitting in the middle of a deserted… Classroom? A Japanese-styled classroom? He then felt steps behind him. He turned around… And raised an eyebrow. The person he was facing just smirked.

"I've finally managed to get around that annoying sorcerer's barrier. I guess your mind's shutdown helped with that, boy…"

"…" Naruto blinked once. Twice. Thrice. The person he was looking at was a very hot woman, but… He blinked again. "Alright. Why do you have six arms and why are you wearing a schoolgirl's uniform?"

--

Jay knew that he had done something terrible the very instant he woke up. But what he saw in that church, what Stryker showed him… Was something far worse than what he imagined. What stood in front of him, crucified and half destroyed, was a worse, stronger, more terrible menace than even Stryker. A pink robot that he knew very well. One of the few enemies that the X-Men have never managed to completely defeat. Nimrod, the super sentinel from the future. Or better, from 'a' future. A future where mutants had been completely wiped out. It seems that the reason why the Purifiers had been able to strike pre-emptively on them with such precision was because they had used the technology of the robot to see pieces of the future. That was why they had shot Laurie. And that was why they had let him go back to the school and then back here, to their hideout. Because he needed to be the lure for another mutant they had no defences against. Sooraya. He saw her on the monitor, in front of the church… Getting shot time and time again.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Jay screamed and fell to his knees again, seeing Dust's now dead body falling to the ground.

--

"Oh, well… Because I was, and I am still undecided if to rape and torture you a bit after doing what I came here for. That, and I've always wanted to wear one of these things." She unbuttoned one more button on her chest. Naruto just couldn't stop blinking. And god, he just had to ask.

"Miss, are you insane?"

"Bat-shit crazy, boy." Naruto's eyes bulged at her answer. Especially because she had suddenly somersaulted over him and lifted him by his feet. He was currently hanging upside down in front of her. And then a picture was shoved in his face. "This was me a few years ago. I was pretty cute, hn? But then, a blonde clueless lucky, REALLY lucky idiot comes from another dimension and I fall in love with him. Result?" She dropped him on the ground on his head, earning a loud 'OW' from the blonde. "No matter how lucky he was, he got recaptured by a fat ball of lard who then proceeded to turn me into what I am right now. Not that I mind having bigger breasts, but you wouldn't believe the pain in making me get four more arms and other modifications. So, yes. I'm bat-shit insane, and an expert in building prosthetic body parts." She lowered herself to the ground so that she was looking at him in the eyes. "And you don't know how pissed off I am right now. I really want to cut and gut you and make you suffer. You look so much like that bastard that it's almost unnerving."

"…" Naruto had to think of something… Really fast. "Your cleavage is royal?" _Doh. Damn hormones taking over survival instinct._

"Hmmm… Nice try." She slapped him six times on his face. Naruto let out a howl of pain. She then held him on the ground, blocking his arms and feet, and using the 'middle' arms to rip off his shirt. She frowned. "Alright. Where's the damn seal?"

"Ehm… It kinda… Doesn't appear anymore ever since Strange gave me the armband." Suddenly, Spiral materialized a sword in one of her hands. Naruto gasped when she lowered it in a flash on his right arm… Just to see it go right through it. He let out a breath of relief. "I thank you, Sorcerer supreme…"

"Darn. Oh, well, I don't think it would have worked, anyway." She got up, and suddenly the scenery changed. Naruto found himself sitting on an armchair in a dark place, with one arm around Spiral's shoulders and one of her hands holding a knife to his throat. "I guess I will have to do it old way. Skipping through memories. The knife is in case you try to grope me without permission."

"… Then shouldn't you like, button up your uniform? Ouch!" She drew blood. It seemed that the fading thing worked only with life threatening things.

"Shut up, it's starting." Naruto sweatdropped. The movie was titled 'Uzumaki Naruto'. They were watching frames of his life. The introduction was a commentary. Spiral suddenly huffed and one of her hands picked up a remote. Naruto blinked. "This is boring."

"But… It's a cinema." He said.

"So what?" She replied.

"You have a remote."

"Your point?" He shut up. She skipped through the movie and some of the best parts of it… Wait. Some scenes were… Not his memories. She suddenly stopped. He was dressed in white and facing a guy dressed in drag… Orochimaru in drag. He yucked.

_I am… Your mother._

_NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!_

"…" He slowly, slowly turned his head to her, his left eyebrow twitching. "I really, really hate you, right now. And I don't even know your name."

"Spiral, sugar. Now, shut up and let me search for a clear image of yourself looking in the mirror…" She skipped through a lot of the movie till she found what she was looking for… Well, not really. She wanted to see the seal, and instead she found… "…" She observed and made some calculations. She then turned to him, now as red as a tomato. "How old were you there?"

"Ehm… Twelve." _Of all the memories, the ruler thing? I was a growing preteen, give me a break…_

"You're half giant or what, kid? Well, that's one thing Longshot doesn't have in common with you…" He blushed even further while she resumed skipping through his life, now on screen. Then, she found a perfect image. Him, about a year before, looking at himself in a mirror while drawing chakra from the seal, making it perfectly visible on his stomach. She stopped the image and zoomed on it. "Yes… It's the real thing. So, you're the next one. I pity you, kid."

"Eh? The next what?" She stopped the movie.

"Can't tell you. That lard ball values suspense, and this will be one of his prized shows. Well, I've done my job… Now…" She turned to him with a malicious grin on her face. "I think I can have some fun with you, since you will not wake up for another eight hours …"

"… Insane shit?" He said. He was scared. Really, really scared.

"Like you wouldn't believe. It seems I can't really hurt you physically, but…" She turned to the screen and pressed the remote again. "I really want to fuck with your mind a bit, kid…"

"… Snakes on a train?" Naruto was about to enter the world of B-Rate movies. Would he get out alive?

--

While Naruto's mind was in big trouble, his body was peacefully resting in the infirmary along with Laurie, both connected to machines to be sure their vital parameters stayed stable. The only company the two had were David and a sobbing mess known as Josh.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry…" He had kept on saying that the whole time.

"Josh…" David was trying to comfort him, to say something to him. "Josh, it's not your fault…"

"I'm sorry…"

--

In the meanwhile, another two young mutants were walking through the academy. Cessily needed to get her mind distracted by the two forms laying in the infirmary. She had almost fainted when she had seen the both of them dirty in their own blood on those tables. She kept on repeating to herself that they were not critical, and that they would wake up soon. Naruto had a healing factor and Laurie was a strong girl. But… She needed to distract herself.

"Aren't we supposed to be in our rooms?" Said Santo. For once, he was using his brain. Incredible.

"We're checking on Sooraya, Santo." She replied. It was the truth. She was worried about the Muslim. A lot, after what had happened that night. "Nobody's seen her all day."

"I can't believe she's rooming with the clone." The rocky mutant still had to digest the fact that she had cut off his left arm with one clean swipe of one of her foot claws. "I hate her. You hate her too, right?"

"Her name is Laura, Santo. And…" Once, she would have immediately answered 'No'. But there were some… Issues. Namely, an issue named Naruto. The blonde boy had a problem. As in, he was nice to anyone who didn't piss him off. As nice as he could be. Added to his big charisma… Well, she didn't dislike her. "No. I don't."

"… I'm not gonna let anything happen to you, Cess." Santo suddenly said, sounding a lot more serious than what he usually was. "You know that, right." Cessily found herself smiling. She looked up to Santo and Julian like they were her big brothers, and it seemed that they treated her like they would with a younger sister. It felt nice.

"I know, Santo…" They had arrived in front of Sooraya's door. Cessily knocked on the door… And for an instant wondered if she hadn't suddenly developed sonic powers. Each of her knock was met with an explosion sound. But she immediately realized it came from the outside. And Santo voiced the right comment for that situation.

"Oh, &#!"

--

It was a vision, in the sentinels' pilots' eyes. A bunch of man in robes led by a priest wearing a big pink glowing glove around his right forearm and hand. But they knew deadlier men that looked less threatening.

"Drop your weapons, lay down on the ground and put your hands behind your heads! Now, old man!" They didn't have much patience. Even Julius had been shaken from what had happened. He may have not liked them, but they were still kids and children. They had been charged with their protection. And in the last days… The 'old man' just smiled.

"I'm afraid we can't do that. You see… We serve an higher authority." His pink glove started to emit a humming noise and waves of pink energy that shot against the sentinels.

"What areSQUAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARK!" In a flash of pink, all the sentinels stopped moving. "What the hell was that?!" He turned on the intercom. "Slayton! Slylark! Are you copying?! All my systems are locked down… I cant move! Is anyone copying this?!"

Stryker still held high above his head the still energized glove, and he turned to his purifiers. "Tonight, my children, we win the war between heaven and hell!"

--

"Hmmm… What now?"

"Can't… We… Just stop?" Naruto wanted to claw out his own eyes. And rip out his ears. For what he had been forced to see and hear. First, movies. He didn't know they could make movies that bad. Eragon had been the straw that broke the camel's back. Then, it came down to songs. If he heard 'Stars are blind' one more time, he was going to throw a tantrum. Same with Celine Dion. When she then tried to experiment on how much she could actually injury him before the 'fading' thing got to work, he was thankful. "I beg you… Stop…"

"Hmmm… I'm bored…" She dropped her head on her palms. And then frowned. "Hmmm… Well, I guess there are still videogames…" She pulled out a SNES. "Ever played Shaq-Fu?"

--

Things were going to hell, as much as Stryker had wanted to bring God's judgment. Or what he believed was God's judgement. He and his troops had attacked the school right when most of the X-Men were out. The only seniors remaining in the school were Emma, Bishop, Sam Guthrie alias Cannonball and Henry Mc Coy. And the white queen had mentally witnessed Henry going unconscious and Sam getting shot.

It made no sense. They had come too prepared. Where did they find things able to counter their powers so precisely? How did they know so precisely what their powers were? Where did they find that much information?

--

But things were going to hell for the purifiers too. Only four people had been left into the church/headquarter located in Westchester. Two of them had been assigned the duty of 'body-cleaning'. So, they were expecting to carry inside the dead body of a Muslim girl able to turn her body into dust. Not a still living clone of Wolverine who promptly proceeded to kill them with her adamantium claws.

--

Not that things were going well for the two who had remained inside. Or Jay. The shot hadn't killed him on the spot. And that made him able to do something that probably will save all his companions. He watched as Nimrod reactivated itself, repairing enough damage to kill the two purifiers left to guard the robot and then crawl to him to finish Stryker's job. But not before he managed to leave a message with his blood. Maybe that would make the others forgive him for what he had done.

--

The students had been ordered by miss Frost to stay in their rooms. And Emma's words had been 'failure to obey will result in my personal ire'. And that was something that Quill had understood and felt he had to make notice to Anole and Pixie, who were running in front of his room out of their own ones.

"Hey!"

"Come on!" Anole ignored his first call for attention, so Quill decided to be a little more talkative.

"Guys, what's going on?!" He simply asked. The strong lights and noises were starting to get him curious as well, to tell the truth.

"We don't know but we're going to find out. Come on, Max!"

"But… But Miss Frost said to stay in our rooms…" They ignored him and kept on walking. "Besides, I thought I heard…" They turned the angle just as another shadow appeared over him. From behind him. The fat purifier brought an index finger to his mouth and mocked him with a silent 'Shhhh…'. "Wait…" He turned around… Just to be shot.

--

The gunshots were becoming louder and louder. In the infirmary too. David opened the door and looked in the corridor with attention.

"Just stay here, Josh. I'm going to go find out what's going on. Stay with Laurie and Naruto." The blonde healer didn't reply. And David was met with the rushing form of the cuckoos.

"David!"

"Mindee? What's…" He got cut off immediately.

"Everyone is screaming."

"Everyone is scared." They stopped in front of him. "We don't understand… We can't hear anything bad. Our minds don't detect anything."

"Try looking through other people's eyes. Someone you know." The cuckoos nodded and started complying with David's suggestion, focusing all together.

"I'm entering Bishop's min… AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Even if it had been Mindee who was talking, the three screamed as one, scaring David.

"What do you see?" The three girls, girls literally unable to feel, screaming, wasn't a sign of anything good.

"Bishop is hurt." That made him shiver. "Cannonball is dying…" That made him pale. "It's the man on TV. The reverend. He's inside the school."

"…" _No…_

"Stryker is here."

--

"Arrogant mind-witch!" At the moment, Emma wasn't faring better than her students. It seemed that while some of the purifiers had been prepared specifically to fight one of the mutants inside the school each, all of them had been shielded against telepathy, as was proved by the woman ignoring her command of dropping to the ground senseless blocking her movements. "Your telepathy is useless against us. Our father has prepared us for all of your demon abilities!" Emma turned to her diamond form… And the woman just stabbed her in the shoulder with her knife. "This is a vibranium blade." It seemed that that woman had been prepared to kill her. She gritted her teeth. That had hurt.

"You… Will pay for that… You miserable cow." The woman just ignored her and turned on her communication device, smiling deviously.

"Father, I have the teacher." She was so pleased with Stryker praising her for her work and the order of 'bringing him her head' that Julian's telekinetic blast took her completely by surprise.

"Get away from her!" The blast sent the woman flying away towards her colleagues. In a moment, he and Nori were in the middle of the room.

"Kill them!" Shouted another purifier. But it seemed that they couldn't block Surge's power… But at the same time, unfortunately, Noriko had just missed the man who had been prepared to kill her.

"Ahhhhh!" A bullet hit her in the back. Mary had recovered just in time to recover the gun of one of her fallen comrades and aim it at Julian.

"Die!" Julian just smirked and raised a telekinetic force-field… Failing to notice that in that case, it had been that had been prepared. The bullet cut through his force field like it was butter.

"What the hell?! How…" He turned around, letting the bullet hit him in the back of his right shoulder. "Argh!"

--

"Darn. Seems like your healing factor gets enhanced as well, when you use your demonic energy source…" Spiral said, growling a little. Naruto blinked. And then joy started to fill his very being, even if his hands were still being force to press buttons on that pad and his eyes were fixed on the screen, displaying that horror for Atari 2600 that was E.T..

"You mean, I'm waking…"

--

"… Uuuuup?" Naruto blinked a couple of times, slowly opening his eyes… Only to get in a seating position in a flash after hearing a gunshot. He was wide awake now. He was too focused on the gunshots he was hearing to even turn back off three tails of power. He was in the infirmary. He saw Laurie unconscious on a nearby bed. "… Again?" He did a single hand-seal and four copies appeared. "Stay with her." He peeked into the corridor… And he saw a man in a robe about to shot a purple-skinned boy in the head. "Oh, no, you don't!"

He rushed to him and did something that would have make him shout out in coolness if he had had time for that. He jumped and delivered a perfect flying kick to the man's face. The strength from three tails was something too, since the man flew back and through the wall on the end of the room, out in the garden. He kneeled down to the boy.

"Are you okay?!" He gave as a reply a weak nod. "Listen, get into the infirmary and close the door behind you. My clones will protect you." The boy was too scared to say anything, not that he would have said much. He just did as told and closed the door behind him. When he was sure the boy was safe, Naruto turned to the outside. He could see some explosions coming from the other side of the estate. Where they kept the '198', they called them… But he was sure there were people inside the mansion too. _Well, time to be in lots of places at the same time!_ "Tajuu Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"

--

"Uhhh…" If someone needed proof that the Burka wasn't to hide Muslim women because they were all ugly, Sooraya waking up in just her undergarments in the middle of her bathroom was that proof. The girl's mind took in her undressed state, and immediately began to search for the one responsible. She didn't see her anywhere. She decided to call for her. "Laura? What did you do?" No answer. She slowly got up on her feet and out of her bathroom. She wasn't in their room either. "Why did you hit me?" She slowly opened the door… And one word escaped her lips. "Allah…"

"Raaa!"

"Waaaaa!" Santo and Cessily were fighting against robed men. Armed robed men wielding weapons. The two noticed the girl had opened the door and gotten out of her room.

"Sooraya! Get back!" Cess' first thought was for her safety.

"Holy crap, Dust! I'm not supposed to see you without your special outfit!" Santo's too. But he managed to say it using a joke. But the purifier who was about to shoot at Santo from behind got surprised by the girl's sudden appearance. Because she was supposed to had been taken care of.

"The Muslim? But that's not possible…" They had lured her there using the winged demon. "You're dead…" She had to be…

"Turaab." Because in the visions she single-handedly killed them all.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!" By ripping off everything of their bodies from their very bones.

"Reverend, come in! Reverend!"

--

"Reverend, we're encountering heavy resistance from the 198."

Stryker had the task of directing the attack, and that was why he was just slowly patrolling the corridors of the school alongside Matthew, the sniper, and his right-hand.

"They are not the primary target. Keep them away from the mansion as long as possible." He replied to the last purifier that had talked to him.

"Yes, reverend. We'll—THUNK." Stryker raised an eyebrow at that. The line had been suddenly cut off… No matter. Losses had been predicted. He sent a message to everyone in hearing.

"Someone get me a visual on Mary, she's gone radio silent." Matthew decided to comment on that. Sharply.

"She's either in combat or dead."

"Have faith, Matthew." Replied the father, confident. "Our victory is assured by god. She has Frost… We'll find the healer and eliminate the rest of the seven while my purifiers deal with the children in their rooms." Then, a purifier contacted him with a rather loud tone of voice.

"Father! An unknown enemy has engaged us! He's… Everywhere! He… ARGH!" "What the hell have you done, you bastards?!" Before he could get what was happening, he received another communication.

"Reverend! We've had a visual on the mutant Dust. I repeat, Dust is alive." And that made his 'faith' shaken.

"No… No, that isn't possible. She's dead. The vision confirmed it. God himself foretold…"

"She sees me… Oh, god she's… AAAAARRHGHH!"

"…" Something had gone wrong. But nonetheless, they would win, that night. "Matthew, we proceed with God's plan. The lords stands with us." David thanked god for the training that made him and the cuckoos able to get unnoticed by the two men.

--

"Uhhh…" She was in deep shit. She was hurt. Her head felt like it was about to explode, and her gloves were broken. She couldn't control the electricity she absorbed anymore…

"Surge! Surge, pull it together!" Julian tried to get her to get back to her senses, as difficult as that could be. He was just hurt. She was stunned or something.

"Shut… Up… Julian… I…" A gun came in her vision. "Oh, crap." The woman was pretty resilient. Mary, right? And cruel too, judging from her smile.

"Now you die, demon." Snikt. That sound only meant two things. Salvation for allies, doom for enemies. It was like that for Wolverine and it was like that for Laura. Her form descending upon her earned the attention of every purifier in the room.

"Aaaaargh!"

"Noooo."

"Oh." Noriko, Julian and Emma watched with awe and relief as the clone saved their lives by ending the purifiers' one. Her claws cut through flesh and metal like they were the same material. Just three purifiers were standing in the room after five seconds. Laura clawed the woman through her heart and lungs, while the bald one opened fire on her from behind. It hit her, but it didn't do much. She somersaulted and kicked the blonde purifier in the face with enough force to snap his neck and slashing the bald one across the chest and stomach, effectively gutting him, to then land gracefully on her feet.

"WHOA."

"OHMYGOD!" Dust, Mercury and Rockslide arrived just in time to see a very cool and at the same time frightening image. Laura, her hands soaked in blood and her body splattered with it, retracting her claws. Laura turned to Sooraya and simply said…

"It was a trap, Sooraya."

"You… You took my place?" Santo suddenly felt like an ass for saying that he hated 'the clone'. How could you hate anyone who was willing to go to that extent to protect a friend? Cessily just smiled. That made up her mind. Maybe… She could be some kind of rival, but she certainly couldn't hate her, at the moment.

"I believe Allah didn't want you to die." Replied Laura again.

"Uh!" Julian had taken upon his self the task to get the vibranium knife out of Emma's shoulder, much to his stomach's chagrin. "Thank you, Mr. Keller. Now let's keep moving, shall we?" While Santo helped her back to her feet, Laura hadn't finished moving yet. She kneeled down on the bald purifier. The only one still alive.

"Laura?" Said Noriko. Her and Cessily had noticed that one of her claws was out again.

"Laura, what are you…" Laura held the man's head up… And then ran the claw right through it, from the back, earning a synchronized 'WAAAAAAAAAH!' from Cess and Nori. And a…

"DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAMN!" From Santo. Believing it to he just cheap violence.

"Wait, I…" Emma seemed to know better. Or, her powers seemed to know better. "I can read his mind, now." She began to search for the information she needed… And she found them. "It's been Stryker this whole time."

"Though I walk… Through…" Laura lifted the man's head to show that she had run the claw through a strange device that they had attacked behind their heads.

"They all have these." It was that thing that blocked Emma's telepathy. She sniffed it. "So did Icarus. It smells like death."

"Stryker was responsible for Jay's wings…" She kept on searching through the man's mind, knowing that his time was running short along with her time to gather information. "For the bus attack… For Laurie and Militia."

"Naruto?" That got Laura's attention. So much that her head moved around in a sharp, fast movement.

"There's something else… Overshadowing everything… No…" The worry had gotten the best of Laura's body for just a split second, but it was enough to lessen even more the man's life. "No! He's dead. Damn it! There was something else… Some kind of 'device'."

"…" Unknown to everyone in the room, each one too focused on something of their own, was Josh, listening to everything… And he finally had the information that really mattered to him. "Laurie…"

"What's happened to Naruto?" Laura raised her voice a bit more. Cess was the first one to react. She saw that coming.

"Naruto… He…"

"I was shot through the mouth and put into a coma long enough for all this shit to happen." Everyone turned around in a flash to another corridor. And Cess would have thrown herself at Naruto in a hug, hadn't the blonde been carrying four purifiers. Laura didn't have those problems though. She instinctively hugged him around the neck, much to the girl's horror. He was still bloody… But so was she. He smiled sadly. "Hey. Haven't seen you all day…" He let the four bodies down. Yes. Bodies. Emma noticed it before anyone else. All the four purifiers had their neck broken and twisted into unnatural positions. "These four were incoming back up for the ones here, I suppose…"

"…" Laura broke the hug to look at him in the eyes. He had actually killed them. "You…"

"Don't worry. It's not the first person I've killed." That made everyone flinch. Naruto blinked. And he felt like palming his face. "When I said I didn't kill anyone, I meant… In cold blood. I've killed in a fight." Naruto then turned towards Emma. "What's happening, here?"

"It's the same people that attacked you. They…" Emma was interrupted by a new set of thoughts coming to her head. David and her girls.

_Miss frost? I'm with Mindee and the girls. We could use a hand._

_We've got Stryker. Oh, no…_

_Onyxx!_

"No."

--

"Watch it! Argh!" It was the first time an explosive bullet hit him. And even if it wasn't a vital spot, it sure hurt like a bitch. But he didn't have time for that. He had to get away along with the girls. Telepathy was useless. They had verified. And he was just useless. They had to run… Leaving an injured Onyxx, the other 'rock dude', behind.

"Find them and kill them." Ordered Stryker to Matthew. "Especially the boy. Alleyne cannot live."

"I know, father." Matthew obeyed and started his pursuit of the cuckoos and David.

"God is with you, Matthew. Always remember that." Stryker watched Matthew go after the four students while ignoring the moans of pain of the 'demon' he had just injured using the power of his glove. He just smiled. "Now, to fulfil my destiny."

"You will do nothing, William." He turned to the source of the voice. Emma Frost. Along with the New X-Men. "Your destiny ends now." But… There were two things that were strange to him. To what he had seen in his vision… An unknown student… And Dust.

"The Muslim… I don't understand…" He paused, thinking briefly about what had happened. "God showed me your death… I made it happen, you abomination…" He got angry. "I killed you!"

"Be silent!" Sooraya was as enraged as him if not more. No, positively more. "No god would condone such horror! Such hatred! You are the abomination!"

"… And you…" He turned his gaze to the angry looking blonde boy, with those… Red eyes… Then, he remembered. William had said that he only managed to heavily injure Wallflower because of the interference of an 'unknown' being. And the cut down communications… "Who are you? You weren't in the vision."

"… I'm the one who got shot in the back of the head by one of your lackeys and has killed about twenty of them ever since he woke up." He paused. "Make that forty-three. My clones just dispelled."

"…" Stryker's mind was currently one-sided. While most people would have seen that as a big screw up in their plans, he just saw it as… "No. God is testing me." He raised his gloved arm into the air, energy starting to crackle. "I will not fail you, lord."

"Watch out! He's going to…"

"I am your serv…" Both Nori and Stryker stopped halfway because of the same person but for different reasons. Noriko because she saw Josh sneak behind him. Stryker because he felt his hands touching his head. But if it was just a touch…

"YOU MAIMED LAURIE!"

"AAAAAAAAAAH!" Why did it hurt so much?

"YOU KILLED THEM ALL!" His hands were turning black while Stryker's body began to get covered with… Bobbles? "DIE, YOU BASTARD!" Stryker ran out of air, but he found that his body couldn't do anything but scream. "DIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!" In a few seconds, Stryker was dead, under the petrified gazes of everyone but Emma in the room… But then, when the reverend's lifeless body fell to the ground, killed by what would be later called Josh's 'Death Touch', alias 'Instant Cancer'… "AAAAAAAAHHHHH!" It was Josh's turn to scream, his whole body turned from gold to black.

--

Some hours later, the situation had calmed down. The other senior X-Men had returned, along with a heavy contingent from the ONE. Other agents, paramedics… And people paid to gather spoils. Be them bodies or rubble.

"I lost nine ground soldiers, and we still don't know what caused the sentinels to freeze up like that." Colonel Miguel Reyes. ONE's commanding officer. Inspecting the battle zone that the school had become, he just couldn't help but let out some sort of rant. "Cannonball and the boy called Onyxx are critically wounded, and another student is dead. Bishop and Beat suffered minor injuries, as did Emma Frost." Or better… A battle damage report. "Several of the attackers were seen escaping the institute after the sentinels came online. One was identified as Matthew Risman, a contract killer." But he had a listener. Valerine Cooper. "And you said just ten kids stopped these guys?"

"Frost's squad. But I heard the one that killed Stryker isn't doing so well." She replied.

"Too bad." He replied sincerely. He would have liked to thank the boy personally. He turned his attention to what they had removed from the reverend's body. The huge pink… Glove. "Any idea what that is?"

"No…" Replied Valerie, eyeing the strange device as well. "But I'm going to find out."

In the meanwhile, two other heads, headmaster and headmistress were talking. Scott was Emma's colleague and lover. So, he felt naturally coming to him the need to ask her that simple question. "Are you okay?"

"Every time I try to save innocent lives I fail. Every time." Replied Emma. Scott saw that coming. "Now another of my students is dead." She turned her gaze away, while Cyke moved it to the fallen, destroyed emblem of their school. "So no, Scott. I'm not okay."

--

And all the students were at the infirmary, watching over the two injured in the room. Just to look at Laurie could make a person sick. The bandages over her shoulder injury needed to be changed continuously because they kept on getting soaked. First it was blood, now it was the pus of the infection. She was sweating, fighting it. Josh… Josh was like a Dracula horror movie. His skin was now completely black, and he kept his eyes open wide. Sometimes he went into convulsions… Terrible.

"He's not talking. Not responding to anyone." Explained David, having been the one who had talked with the medics. "He's been like that for six hours. And, of course, his skin."

"I don't think Foley could do that…" Julian tried to find the words, but since they still didn't know what Josh had done to the 'reverend', he opted for… "What he did."

"It was always possible… But I don't think Josh was ever supposed to use his powers like that." Replied David. From healer to killer… He had the feeling that his hypothesis was right. Santo just scoffed.

"At least he killed that psycho #." He said. David cursed under his breath and punched the reinforced glass separating them from the room below.

"Why do guys think Stryker believed he could just walk in here like that?" He began, shaking his head. "He seemed so positive that he could…"

"Because he was insane, David." Replied Noriko. David thought about it for a few seconds… And then shook his head again.

"I'm not so sure, Nori…"

"… Me neither." Naruto had talked again. He had stared at Josh long enough, and he was instead focusing on Laurie. And he thought that some people envied him for the fox, since having a healing factor spared him… What Laurie was going through. The blonde girl was also part of what he was thinking. "It was just… Too well programmed."

"…" Cessily embraced him from behind, around the neck. "What do you mean?"

"…" Naruto leaned his own hand over Cess' crossed ones. "He thought he could do what he was about to do… Because he had some source of information. I mean…" He turned his gaze to the others. "He knew which of us to eliminate before attacking. He knew how to make devices able to block some of our powers and bullets able to injure who is somewhat invulnerable. It was all too well planned to be the result of insanity and sheer luck."

"But whatever source he had, it wasn't too precise or completely reliable. What saved us was that he didn't realize it." Commented Laura, who… Embraced Cessily in the same way she was embracing Naruto? The two raised an eyebrow while she continued talking. "He didn't know that I had taken Sooraya's place nor about your very existence, Naruto."

"…" Naruto blinked. Once. Twice. Cessily did the same. "What about… We talk about this when the situation gets less weird?"

Julian felt the need to bang his head against a wall. First they wanted to kill each other, now she was copying Cess… She really was inexperienced in human behaviour.

--

"Thanks for checking in, Forge."

The mutant known as Forge had a peculiar, very powerful mutant power. He could build whatever device he thought of without knowing how it really worked. And he kept track of the functioning of some of them. Like the ones he built for friends. Among these were Surge's gloves that allowed her to control her electricity absorbing powers. His computer signalled to him that the gloves were about to get destroyed, so he tried to initiate a communication with the Xavier's Institute… Only to find that all links with it were cut off. Only after the whole incident had been cut off he had managed to contact them. Scott had just finished explaining to him what had processed through that night.

"Just let me know if there's anything you need. I'll be there in another week… And Scott…" The reason he had been up at that late hour. "I'm bringing something with me. I think you'll like it."

"I'll look forward to it. I could use some good news. Oh, and Forge…" Time to touch heart's arguments. Scott needed to weight his words. "Storm was asking if you were coming to the wedding?"

"Can't make it. I sent a card." Quick reply to immediately cut off the argument. Cyclops understood.

"Understood. Cyclops out." Forge didn't even have the time to turn off the communication that another electronic voice resonated around him.

**Target Located: Primary Objective Complete.**

"What…" And then he saw it, floating in the air around Eagle Plaza just out of his window. It was damaged, it was missing an arm and various other parts of its structure, but how could he not recognize it.

**Declaration: The Maker Has Been Found.** Nimrod.

_Continue…_

_In the next chapter…_

For little more than a day, an apparent calm reigns over the school once again. Full of grief, but still calm… Before the next storm. Naruto has been introduced to human cruelty, now he will be introduced to sheer power. Big guns of the Marvel Universe. Fate has in set lots of things for him. Stay tuned.


	11. Nimrod II

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto nor Marvel… MEINOS SMASH

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto nor Marvel… MEINOS SMASH.

**No Reading**

**Chapter9:**** Alien or otherworldy?**

Nowadays, being a police-man wasn't really that normal anymore. Once there were just burglars, killers and the likes, but now you had superburglars, superkillers, aliens, mutants… And god only knew what else. So, if there was something that looked like it was over your head, the best thing to do was ask for help to the nearest super-hero. Which one to call was another matter now. But it seemed that recently, at least that had become easier.

"We were called in… There were reports of gunfire and an explosion. But when we got here…" The policeman used his arm to point the two's attention to the rest of the room. "Well, you saw those bodies out there, all cut up. I just never…" He paused, trying to find the good words. But it was easy, really. "Never seen anything like it. And when we went inside, it got even worse. All the bodies… Weird computers… I mean, that guy over there…" He pointed to one of the bodies on the floor, now all covered with blankets. He then put a hand over his own face. "What can do that to someone? It's just too much." He turned to his 'guests' again, adjusting the hat over his head. "I know you guys deal with this kinda thing, and since you're the official superheroes now… I-I just thought…"

"You did the right thing, officer." Poor man. Between the 'crime scene' and their presence, he was starting to stutter, trying to excuse himself for asking for help. That's what they were there for. "We'll take it from here." That was what the New Avengers existed for. And what currently Iron Man and Ms. Marvel were in that church for.

Tony's brain and suit immediately started to analyze the structure, in particular the 'weird computers'. "Most of the computers here are fairly basic… And apparently designed to download and display data, not used for processing." He then kneeled down next to the body that had freaked out the policeman. All covered in dust… That once was part of it. "Hmmm…" He used his left hand to touch said dust, so that his armour's sensors started giving out an analysis of its chemical composition.

"What could have done this, Tony?" Carol Danvers had seen a lot of things in her life, but she knew that people didn't turn to dust by gunshots. And to get answers it was always better to ask someone like Tony.

"Some kind of disintegration ray. Although I haven't seen anything quite like this." Oxygen 65 percent. Carbon 18,5 percent. Hydrogen… "Even Ultron isn't so… Thorough."

"I hate mysteries." Indeed. She had always been more of an action type. "Give me something to punch any day."

"Be careful what you fish for, Carol. I'm picking up a distinct energy trail." His other sensors had started searching for other clues… And in front of his eyes something appeared that looked like a glowing pink puddle. He started to analyze the energy… 'Error. Energy type unknown'. He started working with what he knew. The sneaking direction of the trail. "Whatever it was, it moved down from the cross, killed those two men, and came to this body here." Another strange thing. He turned to the policeman. "Your report says this one died from a bullet wound?" He interfaced his armour with every known super-database. "Commence full spectrum analysis: record." From the outside, his armour's eyes glowed a strong yellow. And even if it was a 'full spectrum analysis', it just took a few seconds more than the normal ones. But the result was the same. "It's not coming up in any of the records… S.H.I.E.L.D., Avengers, Fantastic Four… Odd." For the moment, they would need to focus on the movements of the subject that left the trail. "The energy trail left the church and took flight… Headed southwest, then just stopped cold about a mile out."

"So this thing has a disintegration ray, but shot someone with a gun?" Carol just had to use sarcasm. It just looked too strange to not… She gasped when the policeman uncovered the body. "Oh my god… It's just a kid." Tony turned to the body as well. You could notice a lot of things. His posture, his last facial expression… But what he focused on was his last desperate act. He tried to write a message on the floor, in his own blood. Tried, because… He couldn't finish the word, it seemed. N. I. M. R. And… Maybe an unfinished 'O'.

"A kid trying to tell us something." Tony found admirable that a 'kid' found the willpower to write something in his own blood on the floor just moments before dying. Most of the adults he knew didn't have that kind of willpower. He scanned his face. "Facial recognition in progress…" Match found. "The Office of National Emergency has a file on him. Joshua Guthrie… He's a mutant."

"Oh, no…" Another one? Carol knew there were so few last… And now… She turned to Tony. "Does… Is there any information on his family?"

"Mother, Lucinda Guthrie." Of course there was. "Father, deceased. Siblings…" Woah. Quite a long list. "Elizabeth, Joelle, Melody, Paige, Samuel…"

"Sam Guthrie." Carol cut off Tony when she recognized the combination of the last name and the surname. She turned to the body once more. "This is one of Xavier's students. This is Cannonball's brother." A terrible thing. But Tony had to remain professional. Whatever killed him and the two other men… Was out there.

"The X-Men might have information about what did this. Maybe whatever the boy wrote means something to them." They needed a trail. Something to at least honour that boy's wishes. His last ounce of strength had been used to leave behind that message. It was not to be ignored. "I'll notify Valerie Cooper at the O*N*E. They can…"

"No. The X-Men shouldn't get this kind of news from the military." Carol cut off Tony again. She knew he was already dialling the woman's number. "I'll tell them."

"… Then, please do me a favour. Remind Emma of…"

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

While inside the mansion, Henry was discussing with the colonel what to do with Stryker's body and the pink glove of doom he was carrying, outside Julian was standing, his back to a wall, while the O*N*E agents cleaned the backyard from bodies. He didn't like showing that side of his personality. But Cessily had reached him nonetheless.

"We stopped them." She said. Julian just scoffed.

"Yeah. Hooray for us." He simply replied. Cess sighed. She knew Julian was stronger than Josh. He wouldn't pull a Hulk on the world. But he was still suffering.

"How's your side?"

"I'm fine." He said. The redhead just rolled her eyes.

"You're such a terrible liar." He smiled a bit.

"Yeah. Well, I'll be fine." He said, turning his gaze to the ground, this time. Cessily shook her head.

"Julian, I know Miss Frost is mad at you for some reason… That she made Nori leader just to punish you. And I'm sorry about how Sofia left…" She took a pause, biting her lower lip. "Look, I know you miss Brian and the others. We all do… But you have to remember that we're in this together. None of what's happened is your…"

"My fault. Yeah, I hear that a lot." He cut her off, shaking his head. The words were always the same because they were true. But he wasn't blaming himself. He was just… "I thought I knew how bad it could get, you know? That we could handle it. But I was wrong." He then turned his head to a couple of agents moving another body. Cessily did the same.

"… called themselves Purifiers. Some of them escaped, I heard…"

"Good. They didn't finish the job."

"Jeez, Larry… Keep your voice down."

"… Nobody could be ready for this kind of hate." Julian hated feeling like this. It wasn't cool. It wasn't superior. It was… Human. Normal. Himself. He decided to change the subject of the discussion. He turned to her smiling. "So, what's the matter with clone-boy?"

"Uh?" The question took her by surprise, since she was deadly serious just a few seconds before. She blushed when she understood. "Ah… Naruto…"

"I see you've improved on colouring other parts of your body. I think he will like it." Cess smiled and shook her head.

"To him, it doesn't make a difference… He's the first one to actually like my appearance. He said I was 'freaking cool' the first time he saw me…" She replied. Julian 'Hmmm'-ed and crossed his arms.

"Are you sure you're not being blinded by that? I mean, I can understand that it makes you happy, but…"

"It's not only about that… Or me, for that matter." Cess sighed a little at that, crossing her arms as well. "I don't know if you've noticed how Laura is acting around him… Or me, for that matter."

"Duh." Julian rolled his eyes at that. "Pretty difficult not to notice it."

"Well, the point is this. To him it doesn't matter who he's talking with or what he has done in the past or what he's made of." She smiled some more, feeling her body get warm at the memory of his embrace. "He acts the same way with anyone he meets. Kind, caring, a bit impulsive and childish. Of course, if you piss him off, it's another matter… But that's how he is." Her smiled widened. "I really can't blame Laura for liking him as well…"

"… Alright. I never heard you talk about anyone in that fashion. You've got me. But, aren't you rushing things in that other matter?" That made Cessily blink and raised her head in a flash. Then, she turned completely red. Nice trick, thought Julian.

"W-W-WHAT ARE YOU SAYING?"

"Laurie told me you 'invited' him to your room after the cartoon night." Julian grinned like a Cheshire. Cess turned even more red.

"W-WE DIDN'T DO IT! WE JUST… Ehm…" She turned her head to the side and mumbled something. Julian approached her with his left ear and she repeated it again. He blinked.

"Wow. Didn't believe you could be that kinky. Nice creative way of using your powers." Cessily was about to shove Julian away when… She noticed a shadow above them. She raised her head.

"Julian, look up." Julian did so… And like any healthy American male, he liked what he saw.

"Now, that's what I call a super-outfit."

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"Please… Do you see him?"

"There used to be so many more of us." Commented Mindee while scanning the world using Cerebra. That was her first impression. It was always shocking.

"I know, Mindee." Sometimes Scott wished the girls could still feel. The lacking of emotion in their voices was… Sad, to say the least. "For now, just concentrate on finding Jay."

"I… I'm not sensing him. He's either being shielded somehow, or he's…"

"Or he's dead." It seemed that even now, though, some traits of their original personalities remained. Like Phoebe's one. Even before the sealing of the Phoenix Force fragment in their diamond hearts, she had always been a bit colder than her sisters.

"No, Allah, please… Do not let this happen." Prayed Sooraya. it had been her idea of using Cerebra to find Jay. His current whereabouts were still unknown. "This is my fault, I should have gone with him…"

"If you followed him, you would be dead." Stated Laura. She had went to the 'appointment' in Dust's place. She knew what she was talking about.

"But maybe Jay would still be alive!" She replied, raising her voice a little.

"No, he would not." Again, Laura knew what she was talking about. Suddenly, the third cuckoo, Celeste, turned to Cyclops. She had just been given a 'thought-call'.

"Mister Rasputin is calling you, Mister Summers… He says you have a visitor."

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"Tell him it's urgent, Celeste."

"Wow." Best comment ever in reaction to Ms Marvel's costume and figure.

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"RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH! Nnnnnn!"

"Miss Frost said it wasn't a mental condition… That it was physical. Like he had altered his own brain chemistry." Nori just kept on being silent. Naruto blinked and narrowed his eyes. David understood. "Basically… He changed how his own brain works. No sedatives are working."

"You could have used those words from the beginning." Replied Naruto, while Nori adjusted her gloves.

"Damn, these old gloves itch." She the returned her attention to Josh. "So, what do we do now?"

"We wait. Hopefully, his mind will heal itself or he will just snap out of it."

"I hope he does it sooner than later, David." Naruto kept on observing the charcoal black mutant scream and convulse in his bed. "He looks like something out of the Evil Dead trilogy." Both Noriko and David turned to him, eyebrows raised. "Don't ask. Miss Frost imprinted the whole series in my mind. Maybe she wanted to scare me for life, but I like it. Well, of course, with all the blood you could fill an Olympic sized pool." He then turned his gaze to the other injured. Sam Guthrie alias Cannonball was going to be okay. And Laurie… "What about her?"

"She's recovering fairly well. She will wake up soon." Naruto shook his head.

"I was talking about the hole in her shoulder… At this point, her whole right arm is basically useless, right?"

"…" David lowered his head. It seemed that Naruto had a good eye for noticing the worst things. First the accident with Kevin's powers, then… "Yes. To tell the truth… I heard mister McCoy talking with Scott about proposing her… A prosthesis."

"B-But… To do that, they would have to…" Said Nori. David just nodded, and lowered his head. Naruto cursed. He felt sick just thinking about it. Not about the thing… But that they would have to ask her about it. "… Did you get a hold of Sofia?"

"No. I tried, but she's gone back to Venezuela, so she doesn't know what happened yet." Replied David. Noriko observed Josh some more… Before cursing as well.

"This has to end, David. We have to do something." She turned away from Josh before talking again. "Forty-four of us are dead. Now, Max is gone too. All of our friends, David…"

"… And I suppose that Laurie has to thank me and Josh for bickering and pushing me into her. Otherwise, instead of the back of my throat, that shot would have…"

"Ahem." The three of them all turned around, hearing Emma clear her voice from behind them. They noticed that she was with another woman. David and Nori's eyes widened, while Naruto only noticed some similarities with Laurie. _This is Mrs Collins. Laurie's mother._

_Ah._ Naruto decided that for the moment, he had to shut up. He moved out of the way, since he was pretty much obscuring the glass that showed Laurie's bed. The woman approached the spot where he had been standing and then placed a hand on her mouth, sobbing.

"My little wallflower… What did they do to you?" She said. Emma approached her and put a hand on her right shoulder.

"She will wake up soon. Your daughter is very strong. But…" Said the white queen. Mrs Collins nodded slowly, understanding.

"Her arm is ruined… But you will have to ask her directly about the prosthesis." Emma nodded. Naruto sighed. Artificial body parts acting like real ones… He guessed that… Then, he blinked. He had almost forgot about it.

"Miss Frost, do you by any chance know a woman named Spiral?" The mention of that name made everyone but Laurie's mother jump in their skins. Nori and David knew her by name only. Emma…

"… What did you say?" Judging from her voice, they weren't exactly friendly acquaintances.

"I was sent into the coma because Josh' powers and my own healing factor apparently both saw each other as a bad influence on the body. During the coma I was… Visited by this six armed, body-parts building, bat-shit insane woman named Spiral. A knack for guro." Emma kept her serious face while Nori yucked. She knew what the word meant. Emma approached Naruto and put a hand on his right shoulder, gripping it hard.

"What did she want with you? What did she do?"

"She… Searched in my head for an image of my seal." Emma understood, and while she was at it she extracted from Naruto's mind the events that had transpired there… If Spiral and Mojo had an interest in that boy… Why didn't they just kidnap him and/or turn him into a baby like they had already done before? What were they planning? "… Ehm… Is it that bad?"

"… Mrs Collins, I'll be with you in a few minutes. I need to have a talk with my student." She then turned to David and Nori. "Keep her company for a while, please." Having said that, she walked away along with Naruto. Mrs Collins watched them before turning to David.

"David, who is that boy? I think Laurie said something about a new mutant…"

"His name is Naruto Uzumaki, alias Militia. He's Nori's team-mate and…" David thought about if he should tell or not for a few seconds. He decided to do it. "The person who took the bullet that would have killed Laurie."

"He… What?" Said the woman. David scratched his head.

"He didn't do it on purpose, but… He's been more worried about Laurie's injury than about the fact that because of the shot he had to regrow part of his mouth."

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"That's a great costume. Really great. It looks really, really comfortable."

"Santo, please stop talking." Damn rock hormones. Cess was thinking about putting a mercury leash around Santo's throat.

"Carol!"

"Thank god." Ms Marvel found salvation in Scott's voice. Salvation from hormonal driven boys. Damn her and her costume. She embraced him out of affection, though. Not thanks. "Scott! It's good to see you again. I was worried you might have left for Storm's wedding already."

"Not yet. We probably won't leave for Wakanda until the day of the wedding itself. It's been… Well, you know…" He replied, while Santo tried to be cool and Cessily silenced him again. Carol broke the embrace and got on her serious expression once more.

"Scott… I wish… I…" She chose her words carefully. "We should talk in private." Scott nodded at that, and made a sign to Carol to follow him. Observing the scene, Julian had the perfect comment.

"What was that about?" Good thing they had Laura.

"She was with him. She smells of Icarus." She said, earning immediate reactions from Sooraya…

"What?" And Julian.

"Cess? You'd better get David, Nori, and the clone-boy."

"Uh? Naruto too?" Julian just nodded.

"We're a team, right? Where one goes…" He made a strange gesture with his hand. "Whatever the heck, you know. Just get them. They're in the infirmary."

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"Understood?"

"Got it. Spiral and Mojo had time after time threatened the X-Men. Spiral in particular had managed to defeat all the X-Men alone a lot of times. Very dangerous. Shoot on sight."

"Good boy." Naruto and Emma had had a little talk about Spiral and Mojo. And from what Naruto had learned, he was starting to understand why miss Frost had implanted in his head. They returned to the infirmary just to find Cess there.

"Cessily? What's up?"

"Naruto… You should come. Something's up." At Mercury's words, Emma immediately started scanning the school… And its new arrival. She understood.

"I'll be there too, shortly. Go ahead." Naruto nodded and followed the others.

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"Local police called in the Avengers… She and Iron Man responded." It was nice to have someone with heightened senses around when you needed to eavesdrop. The team was starting to appreciate Laura more and more. "They entered the church… There was strange technology… Bodies… …" She gave a sniff. "She's wearing a lot of perfume."

"Are you serious?" Said Julian. It would come useful later. Gossip on Ms Marvel. The four missing mutants appeared in that moment.

"Who's wearing what?" He sniffed… And yucked. "Yuck, whoever it is, the thing is so strong that I can almost taste it."

"What's going on here?" Asked Noriko.

"We're eavesdropping. Summers is meeting with the hottest Avenger ever." Santo replied in his own way that was just half pertinent to the matter at hand.

"They went to Stryker's church." Julian provided the other half. He then returned his attention to Laura. "Keep going, X. Without the commentary, please."

"Something had left an energy trail, but it disappeared to the southwest." Naruto blinked. Laura could hear them talking through that thick wooden door that clearly? He didn't think he knew of ninjas who could do that without using techniques. "When they looked at the third body…" Suddenly, Laura's expression turned to surprise. Sooraya noticed this. "When they…" Then, it turned to a sad one. And she spoke four, simple, feared words. "Jay Guthrie is dead."

"What?!"

"Oh, no…" Cess and Nori reacted with surprise and horror. Sooraya started crying.

"He was shot in the…" Laura suddenly stopped when she felt a hand on her right shoulder. Naruto shook his head, telling her to stop. He then made her look around. David was grasping his head, and Santo was trying to comfort him. Further details would just sadden them more.

"Children…" Who still got enough strength to notice his surroundings turned to Emma.

"Miss Frost…"

"Return to you rooms. I'll talk to you momentarily. After I have a word with our guest." She walked to the door and stopped in front of it… Then she turned her head around. "Everyone but you, Militia."

This caught everyone by surprise. Naruto blinked. Maybe he was in trouble for letting that psycho in his head while he was unconscious?_… Alright. That sounded too stupid even for my standards._

"You come in with me." Naruto scratched the back of his head and then nodded. He then turned to the others.

"I'll see you guys later." He gave them a thumbs up. David nodded.

"We'll be in Nori's room, alright?" Naruto nodded and followed Emma inside Scott's office. When the door opened, he understood what Santo meant by 'the hottest Avenger ever'. Well, he didn't knew the full roster, so he couldn't be sure… But it could be very well true. The blonde woman sitting in front of Scott at his desk was… Hot, indeed.

"Still chasing that fantasy life of yours, Carol darling?" Naruto didn't fail to notice the angry tone in Emma's voice. "Tell us… Are you the world's greatest superhero yet? Have you done any day-time talk shows lately?"

"Emma…"

"Emma, you need to hear what Carol…" Emma crossed her arms and immediately cut off the Avenger and her lover.

"Oh, I know why she's here, Scott. I read her mind the second I noticed she arrived at the school. I apologize for my tardiness, but I was showing a mother her injured daughter who will need to cut off her now useless arm to make place for a prosthesis." Naruto winced for the girl. Very low blow.

"Emma." Scott tried to admonish her. Emphasis on 'tried'.

"Has Carol told you why she's really here? Because it isn't to tell us about Jay." She just shrugged it off, and in a second brought Scott partially to her side.

"What?" He turned to Ms Marvel again. "Carol?"

"It is… But I… I also wanted to talk to you guys about the registration act." She said, trying to regain at least some terrain in the discussion. Naruto at that moment could have very well made a nice counterpart for the invisible woman.

"It would appear the 'No' I gave Tony Stark didn't convince Ms Marvel. Because of course, she and the X-Men are so very close." Naruto could understand by the emphasis Emma had put on 'very' that she was at best a work colleague. And he could see that the woman wasn't discouraged at all… But she kept talking to Scott instead of Emma. Smart choice.

"Scott… I know that mutants have been persecuted by the government. I know you've had to deal with registration before. I know about Genosha." Naruto knew too… And when he realized it, he wished he didn't know. 16 millions mutants… Killed? He covered his mouth with a hand. "But you saw what happened in Stamford. It's exactly these kind of atrocities we want to put an end to. I know the X-Men want the same thing." Naruto was starting to pay more attention to the speech. "I know because I've fought beside you. I know what the X-Men did in the House of M, for everyone. But this is the right thing to do now. We can work together…"

"Touching." Emma decided that the fellow blonde had talked enough. "And yes, Carol, we saw what happened in Stamford…" Naruto felt that usual sensation of cold. "Because the X-Men went there to help. Which begs the question, where were the Avengers when we needed help? Where were you?" His surroundings had suddenly changed. And he recognized the place.

"Emma, don't do this." Scott tried to stop her… But to no avail. The four of them were standing among the flames of the attack on the bus. While Emma talked in their minds.

_Forty-two of our students were killed in a rocket attack, executed by a religious zealot. A human, who hated mutants simply because they existed. Forty two children._

"Oh, god." He was hearing that word a lot those days.

_The youngest was a girl named Amber. She was about to turn thirteen. How odd… I don't see the Avengers here, pulling her body from the wreckage._

"…" And Naruto knew why. It was one of his clones the one who had done it.

The scenery changed again. This time, he noticed that Emma was absent, even if he still could feel her in his mind, and he and Scott were wearing black clothes. Carol was standing on the grass of their backyard, along with them… Near a set of coffins.

_This is the funeral we held. You're standing next to Brian Cruz's body. The X-Men are about to put him in the ground._ Naruto observed once more the boy's face. How it had not been damaged in the explosion was a wonder. _He just wanted people to like him, much like any other teenager. But this is what he got instead. Surely the Avengers came to the funeral. No? Pity._

Another change. This time, he and Scott were invisible as well. They were in what looked like a normal house. A woman had a phone in her hand, and looked pretty shaken. Her son and daughter were comforting her.

_This is Lucinda Guthrie.__ I have to call her and tell her that one of her sons is dead. And that her oldest son has been badly wounded._

"Emma, please…" It seemed like what was seeing and hearing were affecting the Avenger in some way.

_She sent her children to this place for their protection and education. A place that has sent one child home without her mutant gifts, and now another in a coffin.__ Tell me, Carol… Would you like to make this phone call with me? I assure you, it's not one I'm anxious to make._

Then, they were back in the room… The three of them, at least. Ms Marvel was still trapped in an illusion, if her actions, like patting her hands against air were an indication.

"What? Where…?" Somewhere unknown. But her gasping face made him understand that she soon realized it.

"Twenty-two hours ago, the same man who blew up that bus stated a siege of the institute. Young Max Jordan was murdered in that attack. Where were you?" He heard Emma say. Then, seeing Carol's white face regain some colour confirmed to him that the mind-trip had ended. "That is what happens when people know where to find mutants, Ms Danvers. So unless you want to grab a shovel and help us lay two more innocent lives to rest, we have no further business to discuss."

"This… This isn't what I intended. I just wanted to ask…" Naruto was fearing telepathy more which each demonstration of power from Emma Frost. The blonde super-hero looked pretty shaken, even if she was recovering quickly. "… I just wanted to help."

"Thank you, but you're a little late." Emma scoffed. Useless… She then turned her gaze to Naruto. "Let's focus on the other matter. The favour Tony asked of you."

"He… Right. So…" Carol focused on what was around her once more. She brought her hands to her temples and slowly reopened her eyes, focusing them on the only male blonde in the room. "You're… Militia, right?" Naruto felt good about finally regaining a part in the talking that was done daily in the world.

"Yes. Miss Frost said that my presence was needed, so I guess that this third matter regards me?" Emma crossed her arms some more.

"Long story short, Tony would like to examine you. To find out exactly what you are and from which planet and/or dimension you came from." Naruto blinked. He already knew about the second part, but the first one? That was new.

"What do you mean 'what I am'? I thought I was some kind of mutant."

"Actually… Tony said your DNA is half the mutant one… And the other half is unknown." Naruto blinked. That was unexpected.

"Alright. So, you don't know what I am exactly and where I come from. And while I can't be but grateful for the work since it means that sooner or later I will get back home, I wonder exactly why some big brain has gotten some interest into it." He scratched his chin while squinting his eyes to think.

"Well, first, because of the Superhuman Registration Act." Replied Emma. "We may not support it and we will not help Tony Stark, but we all are already registered, basically, but you are another matter." Naruto turned to face Emma. "Since you're not exactly a mutant, you don't have official ties with the X-Men. We've already had aliens joining our team. You can do what you want, but I'd suggest to register, since you're staying with us. To avoid being hunted down." Naruto sweatdropped. That didn't sound good at all. And he didn't see it as a problem, for him. After all, it wasn't like he had enemies that could exploit his not really secret identity, in this world. He shrugged. Emma continued. "Also… Because we have an interest in your world as well, since, in theory, it could be brimming with mutants."

"Mhhh…" Naruto scratched the top of his head. He was okay with 'registering', but for the exams, there… "Two questions. Will it involve lots of pain? And how long will it take?"

"I assure you that Tony and probably Mr. Fantastic too will do anything to make it as painless as possible. I doubt it will be painful at all. For the time… It will probably take a few days." Carol replied. Naruto thought about it for a while and then nodded.

"Alright, I'll do it. But, can we wait for a few more days?" At that, everyone in the room blinked. Naruto uncrossed his arms and started to explain. "I mean, right now, the school is a mess. I would like to be around at least till things get back to normal. And there's the fact that there's something we don't know about our attackers. So… Is that possible?"

"Well… Of course. I don't think Tony will have anything against it." Then Carol smiled and turned to Scott. "Even if he's not a mutant, he certainly does act like an X-Man." Scott smiled at that. The boy had made a good impression.

"Ah. By the way, is it a rule? I mean, what's with blonde superheroes and sexy costumes?" That made everyone turn in his direction. Naruto blushed. "Ehm… Santo made me ask." Emma palmed her face. She should have seen that coming…

"Ehm… Come on, Carol. I'll walk you out."

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After receiving a mental lecture about how those costumes are used to distract in 'that way' minor enemies and give better movement, Naruto joined the rest of his now moping team in Noriko's room. He smiled at them and raised his head. Julian raised his head.

"So? What did they want?" Naruto shrugged his shoulders.

"Nothing much. Seems like, since I'm a other-dimensional alien or something like that, that they can't tell how much of a mutant is in me. I'll need to go and get some exams when this whole thing blows over. To find out exactly what I am and where I come from." He sat on the bed beside Santo. A little short on space, but it didn't matter. "So… What were we talking about?"

"… Jay." Said Sooraya, her voice low. Noriko decided to do the talking.

"Jay used his last moments of life to leave us a message… Written in his own blood. Sadly, it was incomplete." She said. Cessily groaned, shaking her head in frustration.

"Nimr? What does that even mean?" She said.

"Sooraya said that Jay thought that he'd made a terrible mistake. If Stryker somehow tricked him, or brainwashed him, or something…"

"There's something else. Something we're missing." David decided to take the matters in his hands. After he was named 'Prodigy' for a reason. "Laura, you said something had left an energy trail?"

"Yes." Replied the girl immediately. She had been the one eavesdropping on Ms Marvel, after all. "It dragged itself across the floor inside, but flew outside. It headed southwest, then disappeared."

"I bet that chick from Medium could figure this out." Naruto palmed his face, while Cess resumed her role of Santo's own Jiminy Cricket.

"Shut up, Santo."

"What? We need someone like her or that old chick from 'Murder, she wrote'. I mean, what the hell is a Nimmer?"

While his friends bickered, David instead focused. He was trying to put together everything he had. The incomplete word 'Nimr-'. The attack on the school that was so perfectly prepared that it seemed almost unreal. Like Stryker had suddenly got precognition powers… _… Wait a minute._ David started thinking about the recent speeches he had heard coming out of Stryker's mouth. He had used often words inherent to precognition… Foresight, vision, destiny… Like he already knew what would happen in the future… Future… Future, destiny… Nimr… His eyes widened. Stryker was carrying some kind of robotic arm around… _Oh my god…_ He blanked. "Nimrod."

At that, everyone in the room apart from Laura and Naruto had the same reaction as David. They immediately connected the bits. Even Santo. Naruto still didn't understand.

"Nimrod? Who is Nimrod?" He really didn't want to know.

"… It's…"

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It seems that civil wars were the current fashion in the universe… Well, not really. The Shi'ar empire has had a Civil War going on ever since… Ever? At least according to what the X-Men know. They're the ones who have had the most contact with the great empire from outer space. But the ones who know it mostly is probably the Summers family. Corsair, alas Major Christopher Summers, had come to become the leader of the Starjammers, rebels supporting princess Lilandra, after being kidnapped by the current ruler and being forced to see the murder of his wife and his unborn son… Or so he thought.

His unborn son, Vulcan, Gabriel Summers, was 'saved' and his growth was artificially increased by the Shi'Ar, to serve as a slave. He eventually came back to earth to serve as a slave for Erik the Red, where he was freed from his slavery and became a student of professor Moira McTaggert. His dream was to become an X-Man. But his first mission, saving the senior X-Men from their deaths on the island of Krakoa, ended in tragedy. His friends Petra and Sway died, and he and his remaining team-mate Darwin were left floating in earth's orbit along with the whole island… Till M-Day awakened him again, and at the same time made him an Omega-Level mutant.

He proceeded to get his revenge on the professor, killing the X-Man Banshee in the process. And then, to the Shi'Ar empire. The professor followed him along with some of his X-Men, and after a long series of battles, Vulcan managed to crown himself emperor of the Shi'Ar by marrying Deathbird and then killing then current emperor D'Ken. But his vengeance didn't stop there. He tried to kill Darwin and the professor, and killed his own father. Seeing it as an hopeless battle and believe her beloved's place to not be there with them, Lilandra took control of the X-Bug, the mutant team's spaceship, and hacked into its control system, sending most of the mutants and the alien Hepzibah back towards planet earth. They were now entering its atmosphere… Where 'entering' is to be translated as 'crashing'.

"What the hell is going on?! What's wrong?!" Warpath hated when he felt the ground under his feet going unstable. Guess having the spaceship you're riding on tremble like beans in a rudimental maraca.

"Damned bird empress set ship to jump into atmosphere! We going down!" Hepzibah had never learned to talk English perfectly, but that much was enough for them to understand that they were in a lot of trouble. In a few seconds, the ship crashed to the ground and most of it burst into flames. Fortunately, lady luck had blessed them with a teleporter son of a devil (demon?). After crashing down, Nightcrawler immediately teleported out himself, Hepzibah and Warpath. He then went back and teleported out again with the professor Xavier and Darwin. All in less than thirty seconds.

"We need to get away from here, now… Move." He didn't have much breath left. Teleporting fatigued him.

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They didn't get far away. Enough to not receive any serious harm from the explosion of the space-ship. After a while, they stopped to rest on the top of a nearby hill, observing the wreckage of the spaceship. Hepzibah observed it more intensely than the others.

"That was my way home… I'm stuck on your world." She said. Warpath caught the grief in her voice.

"They'll come for you. The Starjammers will." But he didn't get the right reason of her grief.

"What is point…? There is nothing for me back there…" She raised her head to the sky, passing a clawed hand through the long mane of white hair. "Not now."

"Professor? Are you unharmed?" Nightcrawler's concern was legitimate. Among them, the professor was the only normal human. He was the one who had had the most chances of being injured.

"I'm better than I've been in a long time… At least physically." The professor Replied. Nightcrawler didn't understand fully the meaning of the professor's words, so Darwin 'translated' for him.

"He's got his mutation back. The M'Krann crystal fixed him." He simply said. But that was enough to surprise the hell out of the tailed mutant.

"What?!"

_It's true, Kurt…_ Xavier confirmed the matter by talking to Kurt with telepathy. But his face then became afflict. _But if the images in your mind are true, as well then I wish it hadn't. So let us pray we can make contact with Alex and the others…_

It was official. Professor X was back.

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"Never."

"**Illogical. The maker will comply."** If something that had been built for the genocide of your very own race appeared in front of you, asking you to repair him so that he could continue doing his job, what would you do?

"Go ahead. Kill me." The Mutant known as Forge was adamant. He would not help Nimrod. At the cost of his own life. "But I'll never help you."

"**Termination of the maker is illogical. The maker will comply."** He repeated. Forge just gritted his teeth.

"You exist only to kill my people. There's nothing you can do that will make me 'aid' you, sentinel."

"**Response inaccurate."** Nimrod slowly moved back the arm he was using to aim at Forge, reabsorbing the energy he was covering it with. **"Declaration; this unit has sufficient energy for one teleportation event and one termination before total system failure."**

"…" A robot being enigmatic. That was a first. But he wasn't the most advanced sentinel ever created in every timeline for nothing. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"**The maker does not understand. Solution;**** this unit will clarify."** Suddenly, Nimrod started projecting images. A shape. Forge recognized it immediately.

"Africa…"

"**6° 27' N. 3° 24' E."** Coordinates.

"I don't understand, what are you…" Then, his heart almost stopped. Another hologram. He knew the place. Wakanda…

"**Declaration; the maker will comply with aiding this unit, as before."** Another hologram. This time… A human shape. **"Weapons and teleportation systems ready. Target locked…"** No… A mutant shape. **"Name; Ororo Munroe. X-Man. Designation: Storm."**

"No…"

"**Comply, or she will be terminated."**

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"Reports, reports, reports… I wish paperwork was alive so I could kill it, then revive it then kill it again in a more painful way."

"Oh, the drama… If it could be done, it would make…" Mojo stopped and put a single finger to his lips. He then pushed a button. "Dudes, stop whatever you're doing and get working on how to make paperwork alive." Spiral smirked while handing Mojo in detail what she had discovered inside the kid's mind.

"If I didn't hate you I'd love you right now, fat-ass."

"That would ruin my share, girl." Spiral raised an eyebrow. Mojo did too. "What? You thought I didn't make my own life one of my shows." She raised her arms up in frustration.

"Just… Nevermind." She put her arms in various positions on her body. "So? Is this what your employee was searching for?"

"Employee… Eh. Not exactly, you know?" Mojo eyed the thing containing Spiral's rudimental scribbling while grinning like a mad man. "With all the share he brings me periodically, I'd say he's my prized collaborator." Spiral 'Hmm'ed. That was a first. If there was a thing she knew about Mojo was that he believed himself to be above gods, NBC and CNN all at the same time. Which he wasn't. "And yes. This is exactly what he needed. Or better, who he needed." He pushed another button. "Dudes, stop the paperwork thing! Start working on the next season of the red blockbuster."

_Continue…_

_In the next chapter…_

Things are setting themselves for big events. The first will be the first independent action of the New X-Men. Ignoring their warning, their teachers have left them alone to face one of the big guns among their enemies. The first one Naruto will meet. The super-sentinel, Nimrod. Stay tuned.


	12. Nimrod III

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto nor Marvel… MEINOS SMASH.

**No Reading**

**Chapter10:**** Nimrod**

"I don't know how, but Stryker somehow got hold of it. He knew everything about us, he knew where we would be, when you wouldn't be here…" David was about to try something. Something very hard. Something so cliché that it was used in basically all movies that involved a kids as the main characters. "That's where Stryker's gauntlet came from. That's what Jay was trying to tell us, it matches everything Ms Marvel saw at the church." Trying to make the adults listen to you when you know there is danger coming and they don't. "Nimrod is back."

"You're killing my buzz, kid." But the reaction was as cliché as the situation. As in, they didn't believe him.

"Did Mr. McCoy ever get to examine the gauntlet?" David insisted. Cyclops just kept on walking, turning his head to him only to reply.

"No. But Nimrod… It was sent through the Siege Perilous after it merged with…" Scott was trying to find words to put everything about that past mess together in a short speech… He couldn't do it. "It's a long story. But Nimrod, Bastion, Master Mold… Whatever you want to call it… It was destroyed."

"But couldn't this be another Nimrod? Or a Nimrod from a different point in the timeline? His past is still our future… Couldn't this be him?" David made some good points. But all that this told Wolverine was 'I feel a disturbance in my head'. Headache.

"I hate time travel." He simply said. Cyclops just kept on dismissing most of David's concerns.

"If this was Nimrod, it would have already attacked us." He said, smiling a little sympathetically at the boy. "It was destroyed, David. You're not in any danger."

"You're joking, right?" Said Nori, looking at Cyclops like he had just gone commando in front of everyone. Naruto frowned as well. David had figured out something important. They could at least give him some credit for it. David took another try.

"Mister Summers…"

"David, I know what a nightmare the last few weeks have been. I know how you must be feeling." And Cyclops just kept on dismissing everything as paranoid assumptions.

"With all due respect, sir…"

"The O*N*E's Sentinels are here. Apocalypse is gone."

"But…" Cyclops cut off David once more, with a more forceful tone of voice.

"And Nimrod was destroyed." He put the Emphasis on destroyed. But David was not going to have any of that.

"Just like Stryker was reformed?" At that Wolverine smirked and turned around.

"Ouch." He said. "Good blow, kid." And it seemed to have had some sort of effect.

"…" Cyclops at least started to think about it. Not much, though. "Cable and X-Force dealt with a present-day appearance of Nimrod not too long ago. I'll have them investigate. We'll talk about this more when we get back, David. I promise." Naruto sighed. He guessed he could try with the other side of the barricade. He walked to Logan.

"Yo. How did your man-hunt go?" Wolverine had been missing for a few days because he had taken it upon himself to hunt down Nitro. The one who had exploded in Stamford. Wolverine shrugged.

"The usual. Regenerated from death a few times, cut down the fucker a bit, slept with an atlantiean chick… The usual." Naruto snorted and shook his head at that.

"Look, I'm not good with those kind of speeches. As in, involving reason. So, I'll just give you these few words of wisdom, since you seem to be often at odds with block-head there." It was Wolverine's turn to snort, this time. "Jay used his last piece of strength to write this super-robot killer's name in his own blood. Just that should make you consider it as more than paranoia." Wolverine blinked at that. He turned around just to see Naruto walking away while waving at him with his hands.

_Not good with logic, hn? He doesn't seem to need it to make efficient speeches._ Wolverine walked away and boarded the X-Wing after his companions, who already boarded it. Naruto returned to his group of friends. Together They watched the X-Wing leave. David had just one comment.

"Well, that could have gone better."

"I can't believe they're leaving." Cessily shook her head looking at the ground. "After everything that's happened, they're just leaving us here alone."

"…" Naruto was about to talk again, when his cellphone started ringing. He had an incoming call. He smiled. Layla. He pushed the little green button. "Jamie. It's been a while."

"_I'm as sorry as you__ for not calling in a while. But I knew you were occupied. I'm sorry for what you went through."_

Naruto rolled his eyes. "I should have seen that coming. Don't worry. I understand. And for a while I'll be still occupied."

"_I know. But soon we will have a lot of occasion to see each other. And by the way, hold onto that teleporter. You'll need it soon."_ Naruto blinked. What did she meant by that? Before he could ask more, she started talking again. _"You have an e-mail incoming. Nice work with configuring your telephone, finally. Wait for my MMS after you finish reading. I love your voice. Bye."_

Naruto blinked. Layla hung up… And immediately after the e-mail she was talking about arrived. Naruto scratched his head. Will that girl ever finish weirding him out? He opened it… Another girl. A little one. Mary.

_Dear mister Militia_

_Did you like the site I gave you? I was so surprised when I saw it… And all those other links on it. What is a 'Yaoi fanfic'?_

Naruto shivered. What the hell?

_Apart__ from that, my parents calmed down a bit. Especially after they read that one of the New Warriors that made Nitro go boom had survived and that he was… Suppering estruciantigly? I don't remember…_

He sweatdropped. And then scratched his nose. One of that group survived? How the hell did he do that?

_By the way, I saw that some heroes have s__tarted fighting with each other because some didn't want to join the registration. But… If they fight with each other, who fights with the bad guys?_

_Mary_

Naruto scratched the back of his head. Well, it was one hell of a question, but it was true. Apart from the normal criminals, what about super-criminals, organizations and all the bigger and more dangerous ones? _It really DOES make you wonder… Now what the hell am I supposed to reply?_ While thinking about that, a MMS arrived, like Layla had said. He smiled and opened it… It was a pic… His eyes widened…

"I guess we just have to wait for this robot to come and kill us…" Julian said, and turned around… Just to gasp when he saw Naruto holding his nose, bleeding profusely. "OH, NO! HE'S ALREADY HERE!"

"Nonono! I-It's nothing…" _Oh my… I bet she KNEW I would do this…_

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Forge had built some kind of really advanced alarm system. One simple click of a button and a hidden camera would take a snapshot of his laboratory and then send said snapshot to all of his creations to display. Creations belonging to people able to help him. One of these were Nori's gloves.

"David… No…" The blue haired girl's slumber was interrupted by a sudden electrical noise. And suddenly she felt her eyes being lightened by something. She slowly opened her eyes to find them filled with a bright blue light. "Huh?" And then she found her gloves projecting an image. The said snapshot. Nimrod pointing his charging arm at Forge. "Ahhh!" She calmed down when she realized it wasn't happening in front of her, in her room… Just a little. "Oh my god." She ran out of her room shouting David's name.

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"I… Finally… Got it…" Naruto was holding his sore throat. He had wanted to find out what it was with the fourth tail ever since the first time he turned that particular bracelet. And now he understood. He understood what had happened last time and how to prevent it from happening again. He understood what would have happened if he hadn't pushed some of the chakra to the rest of his body. At least judging from what had happened to the random landscape. This time, the rocky mountains. He had gotten something. From the fourth tail on, he started to tap into the real power of the demon he carried in his belly. And it… Scared him. That was just one attack, and apart from his throat, he didn't feel any drawbacks on his body. And it was just the fourth tail… "Just… Just how powerful can you be, Kyuubi?"

"Naruto!" Naruto turned around in a flash when he heard Cess' voice calling to him. He blushed when he noticed she was wearing her night clothes. He didn't make any comments about it, though. He saw she was kind of upset. "You need to… To…" She had entered the danger room… And she stopped when she noticed something wrong in the landscape. As in, the upper half of a mountain in the background completely… Missing. "What…" She shook her head. "Later. You need to come! There's trouble!"

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"I'm going to punch mister Summers in the face." David started off.

"Get in line." Noriko followed.

"I'll kick him in the ass." Naruto concluded. Various comments and reactions to the sight of the pink robot that was on their minds ever since they put together everything. They were right. The seniors didn't listen. And now, some friend of the X-men and Noriko named Forge was in a life-threatening situation. Along with all the mutants in the world.

"But why? Why go after Forge, of all people?" Cessily kept on observing the image, trying to find an explanation to the question she had just voiced. "If this thing was in New York with Stryker, there's a ton more mutants here to kill. Why go there?"

"Look at the hologram. Nimrod is damaged." Laura stated, having already found the answer. "Its goal is most likely simple survival. According to his file, Forge could repair Nimrod."

"We have to tell someone immediately." Sooraya talked, turning to David. "We cannot keep this information to ourselves."

"You're right, Sooraya… I'll try and contact the X-Men." David said, addressing everyone. Julian reacted with a deadly serious face.

"The same X-Men who assured you Nimrod was destroyed? The same ones who left us here for Stryker to pick off one by one?" But his tone was half sarcastic. "This guy Forge is screwed."

"No." Noriko's tone of voice suddenly got a tone of authority and command, her hands sending little bolts flying around her. If it wasn't for the fact that the girl was wearing just the top of her pyjamas and a piece of black clothing she dared to call underwear, it would have been even more impressive. She raised her head and turned to her team. "This has to end. We have to end it." Emphasis on the word 'We'. "Forty-six of us are dead. Jay is dead. Max is dead. Brian is dead. Laurie is in coma. Josh went insane. And who knows where Kevin is."

"…" Naruto crossed his arms and sat back on the bed, focusing on Noriko's speech. It seemed like the girl had suddenly gotten the sense of Colossus' words during their last exercise.

"The X-Men can't save us. The O*N*E and the sentinels are a sick joke. They'll probably be coming after us next. And the Avengers don't care." Soon, everyone was focusing on nothing but Noriko's words and her eyes. "It's up to us." Naruto smiled. "The X-Men are half a world away. We can't wait for them. Forge could still be alive. And if he's not, then Nimrod is coming here next. This thing was involved with Stryker. It helped him kill our friends." Even Julian had gone silent, suddenly entranced by the girl's word as well. And that was something, coming from him. "So we'll save Forge. And we'll take this thing down. We leave in fifteen minutes." No objections. No retorts. Nothing. Just silent approving. From everyone but Naruto. He just got back on his feet with a back jump, and smiling he walked to the door. He stopped there and said…

"What are you all sitting around for, guys? You heard our leader. Let's go get ready!"

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"When this is over, we're finding a teleporter."

"And a stylist. I don't like my costume much. I mean… It doesn't go very well with yours." Naruto put on his visor and adjusted it. He was right. Most of the team had dark coloured clothes. He really felt out of place.

"That's because you got yours just before they decided to give each one of us a personal one. Sucks to be you." Naruto frowned and growled at Julian.

"Let's just board this plane, blast the sealed passage and fly to kick a pink robot's ass… I swear, pink is the most evil colour in the world." Naruto sat down in one of the seats and strapped on the X-shaped seatbelt.

"What the hell are you wearing?" Naruto blinked and turned around, after hearing Santo's words… And he sweatdropped. David had chosen a particular kind of clothing. "Did you join S.W.A.T. or something after you lost your powers?"

"You ever hear of a student named Doug Ramsey?" Replied David.

"No."

"That's why I'm wearing this."

"I brought guns." Said Laura, much to Naruto's facepalming. He should have seen that coming.

"Wonderful." David really meant that. Didn't know how much good could guns do against Nimrod, but… It was worth a try.

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Not knowing what was transpiring under the school, the sentinels continued on their duty. It was time for the 3:00 AM scan of the entire school.

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"Damn it, Keller, I'd like to actually go to Dallas before we die!"

"What the hell is that?!"

"It's a hologram it covers the exit."

"Can you really do that? I mean, it requires a bit of firepower…"

"Julian, watch…"

"WILL YOU ALL SHUT UP?!"

They shut up. And with a burst of telekinetic energy he destroyed the sealed exit, opening it for the X-Wing to fly through. He smirked.

"Piece of cake."

"Are they following?" Noriko's immediate concern was for the Sentinels.

"Miss Frost is going to kill us. Even Cyclops is going to kill us for this." Cess' concern was for something else. Noriko twitched at that.

"Are they following?!"

"No. No reaction from the sentinels." Laura had taken upon himself to check the secondary systems of the X-Wing. Her mind had been filled with those as well.

"Nobody's going to believe that worked." David stated. Then the realisation hit that it had indeed worked. "Oh, god. What are we doing?" Santo just found the situation hilarious.

"We totally escaped. Those sentinels pilots are so fired. I mean seriously, they suck on a weekly basis."

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_Uh, command? Six mutants just dropped off the grid. … I really, really hate this job._

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"**Commence repairs."** It didn't have the tone, but it was an order. And Forge replied with the same words again.

"I can't! I told you. Your technology is too advanced… There's too much damage." Forge approached the thing he had been working on for days. The surprise he had told Scott about. It was covered with a big cloth. _Can't wait for the X-Men anymore. Switching to plan B. Making up plan B as I go._ "But I can give you something better." He uncovered it… Revealing a less advanced, blue version of the same robot that was menacing him. That was the project he was working on. Another Nimrod… With a simple, but big difference. "I can transfer your programming and A.I. into this body. It should serve your needs, sentinel."

"**SolutionError. Error. Chronal flux in progress."** Forge had understood, by that moment, that that happened everytime Nimrod's past, their future, changed in some way. **"Assimilating changes to Database. Solution acceptable."** And another thing that managed to always unnerve him was how the robot sometimes managed to sound so human. **"This has always been the solution."** Nimrod began to display an hologram. Of the united states, with a big X-mark travelling across them. **"This unit will come online in 27 minutes. In 24 minutes, six… Seven… Error. No reading."** That surprised Forge. Nimrod couldn't read someone?

"**Subject marked as '****Possible Mutant'. Seven mutant signatures will arrive at this location. Designation: New X-Men. Accessing revised Database."** Forge's eyes widened. The NEW X-Men?! Noriko and her friends?! He needed the senior ones! There was no way… **"Ashida, Noriko; Designation: Surge. Will die first. 31 minutes from now. Kincaid, Cessily; Designation: Mercury. Will be terminated 34 minutes from now. Vaccardo, Santo; Designation: Rockslide. 37 minutes from now."**

"…" Forge gripped his punches as strong as he could, gazing at the ground.

"**Qadir, Sooraya; Designation: Dust. 35.6 minutes from now. Keller, Julian; Designation: Hellion. 35 minutes from now. Unknown female; Designation: Talon. 38 minutes from now. Unknown male; Designation: Flail. 45 minutes from now."**

"…" He kept on hoping that his plan B would work. Otherwise, the mutant were soon going to be extinct.

"**Solution in progress. Begin Transfer."**

_Please let this work._ "I need to access your mainframe for the transfer." Forge grabbed a hold of the connection cables.

"**Proceed. Unit online in 24 minutes."**

_Unbelievable… It's seeing the future being rewritten. Please, please let this work._ He connected the two Nimrods… And sparks of pink energy began to flash in the room. He covered his eyes, instinctively.

"**Connection established. Commencing transfer of programming. Commencing transfer of necessary hardware not found in host unit."**

"…" Forge could not help but admire the technology of the sentinel, even if it was one of the worst enemies of his race. It was transferring his own programming and at the same time upgrading his new body to suit its needs. "Incredible."

"**Transfer in progress, 3 % complete. Original unit power cells stabilized. Alert! Mutants detected."** Forge gritted his teeth. They were here already? Then he thought that he didn't know the range of Nimrod's primary scanner. **"Threat designation: New X-Men entering area. Calculating termination solution."**

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"Well, I know how to use the autopilot."

"That is not flying." Naruto was holding his stomach, the laughs threatening to burst it open. Laura picking on David was… On second thought, knowing that who was holding the jet's commands didn't know how to fly it wasn't really that comical.

"Are you sure we're okay? What's with the beeping?!" Nori asked. David just groaned.

"I know, I know. Switching verbal interface on." Naruto blinked and turned to Cessily.

"What does that mean?" He asked her. She chuckled.

"It means the jet is going Star Trek on us." Naruto opened his mouth in a 'O' of understanding. He really hoped he wasn't a red shirt, though.

Massive energy build-up detected, location: Eagle Plaza. Contact imminent, take evasive manoeuvres.

"Oh, no…" Naruto blinked again, hearing the sentence and David's words.

"What does that…" Then, the explosion. The X-Wing getting hit by said energy buildup. And Naruto cursing loudly. And Santo hitting the floor of the jet, since he didn't fasten his seatbelt. "DON'T TELL ME! A MASSIVE PINK COLOURED RAY OF DOOM WAS ABOUT TO HIT US!"

"David!" Nori screamed. He was the one holding the cloche, after all.

Altitude Warning; 10,100 Feet.

"Come on… Pull up…" David was trying his best to avoid to crashing head first and exploding along with the X-Wing in the process. The computer kept on lowering the amount of feet between them and the ground.

"Where's the oxygen masks?!" Naruto could swear that Santo was serious. He, instead, just focused on trying to find a solution.

_Thinkthinkthink! How can you stop a jet from impacting the ground head first?! Or at least protect us from the subsequent explosion?!_ Something came to his mind, but… _What if I hurt them in the process?! No, screw that. I don't know if there are any…_

"Keller!" Noriko screamed to Julian, basically asking him to provide telekinetic aid for their landing. He just replied…

"This is going to hurt."

"COME ON!" And incredibly, the day was saved just thanks to David. He managed to adjust the jet's trajectory just enough for them to not land face first. Not that it wasn't a harsh landing anyway.

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"Where are they?!"

Back at the Xavier's Institute, another young mutant was in quite a predicament. As in, being interrogated by the O*N*E's officers with a set of rifles pointed at his head. And Anole started asking himself what the hell possessed him when he promised Cessily and the others that he would cover them. It couldn't have been feminine charms. He was gay, for god's sake!

"So, uh, yeah… I think they may be with No Girl. Yeah…" The sweat running on his lizardy head told a lot. But he did his 'job' the best he could.

"No Girl?" Colonel Rickman raised an eyebrow. Was there really a mutant named like that?

"No, wait! They might be in the danger cave. Did you check there?" He said. He was getting the hang of it. Valerie Cooper wasn't one for patience, though.

"This is no times for games, Victor. You and your friends are in very serious trouble! Where. Are. They?!" Anole breathed in and out sharply. He had to endure.

"Sometimes students just get randomly kidnapped. Or worse!" He wasn't telling much of a lie. "They could have been sucked into another dimension!" The colonel raised his head to the ceiling and rolled his eyes back.

"This is a waste of time."

"It happens all the time! They could be in… In Asgard! Or space! Seriously!" It seemed that Anole had done his homework. "Have you ever heard of Mojo, miss Cooper? They could have been turned into babies!" Valerie just walked out saying…

"I'll call Cyclops."

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It had been an harsh landing. And the wreckage had taken fire nonetheless. Time to get out of there. A well placed telekinetic blast was going to be enough. The team walked out, and Julian coughed.

"Nice flying there, Alleyne." He needed to work on the landing, among other things.

"And don't give us that 'any landing you can walk away from' crap. Because that landing sucked." Naruto was inclined to agree with Santo, if it wasn't for the fact that the landing had been rough mostly because of the blast of energy that took out a good chunk of the X-Wing. David just dismissed it.

"You can fly next time, Santo." They ignored his 'Awww, yeah!' in favour of focusing to what was in front of them. Eagle Plaza's main building. Julian started making some sense of the situation.

"I guess it knows we're here, huh?" He said. Well, duh.

"It doesn't matter. We're going in." Noriko said. Naruto cracked his neck.

"Not that sneaking in would do us much good. If he managed to detect us while we were flying, I guess he knows we have survived the crash too." He then did the same with his fingers. "So, sneaking in is not going to do us any good either. Let's just find an entrance and bash some heads."

"My kind of plan! Yeah!" Cessily sighed. She wished Naruto had kept his mouth shut. Santo was just too easy to get excited. The grey mutant ran towards the front entrance and broke it with a kick. They followed him inside. Naruto looked around. It really was a strange place. The architecture was… Very cylindrical. And he couldn't see much. The only light were the flames coming from the burning X-Wing. He turned the first bracelet and grinned. It seemed that the upgrades from the fox's chakra included low-light vision. Not exactly like a cat, but fair enough.

"Wow, it's dark in here." Cessily commented. David had already guessed what could have happened.

"That blast must have knocked the power out. Or the jet crashing outside." He said. Cessily rolled her eyes.

"When I said dark, David, I really meant creepy."

"Oh." A source of light came in the shape of Noriko's right hand glowing with electricity. The group started moving together through the now dark halls of the building. Naruto found it a perfect opportunity for trying out his other heightened senses. His ears detected nothing unusual, but even his own footsteps came louder and cleaner to his ears. He sniffed oil, metal and something between a cheeseburger and burned bread. A burned cheeseburger, he guessed. His touch… He stopped walking.

"Guys, stop." Everyone stopped. And others started noticing that there was something wrong.

"Something is not right." Sooraya stated. David started looking around.

"Did you guys feel that? It's like the building is vibrating." Laura started focusing on her sense of hearing and touch, much more heightened than anyone else's in the group. She started counting and differentiating the vibrations, giving them an owner, a direction and a distance. Cessily managed to catch something with her ears.

"Wait… I think I heard something." She stopped and started looking around as well.

"I hear them too. I count nine… No, eleven… They're above us, moving this way." At Laura's words, Cess started getting a little nervous.

"Wait, eleven what? I thought there was only…" And then something came in sight. A figure made out of metal. Not Nimrod. Another robot. It silently came out of the shadows hiding him and punched Santo in the face with a loud noise.

"Santo!" Nori was the one closest to Santo and the robot. She reacted first, gathering more electricity. That earned them some more light, other than her being battle-ready. "Everybody get ready!"

"…" Naruto did. He put his hand in a single hand-seal. "Kage Bunshin!" In a cloud of smoke, he had created two clones of himself. Then, his body changed… Or at least, just his right hand. Laura noticed the change. Naruto suddenly started gathering red energy around it. The energy formed a reproduction of the hand, clenched into a fist. Unknown to her, though, Naruto was still gathering energy. "Alright! Time to give this a test drive!"

"I had forgotten…" David observed the number of robots now surrounding them. "Nimrod can hack into and control lesser machines."

"Raaah!" Julian got the dance started. He sent a telekinetic blast towards one robot, sending him rocketing against a wall. Naruto took this as an opportunity to scatter the group of attackers.

"Take this!" In a fast motion, Naruto brought his right hand to his left shoulder, and then swung his right arm in an horizontal motion in front of him. In a fraction of second, he released the energy he was holding back. The chakra punch suddenly left the original followed by a long red rope of chakra. Long enough to hit one of the robots on the side of its head, sending it flying into the chest of another one. The decapitated robot fell to the ground sending jolts of lightning everywhere, while the blonde called back the energy contained in the shaped weapon, retracting it back. He grinned. "Nice, for a first try!"

"Ack! I. Hate. Pink!" Cessily had morphed her arms in two blades and had just cut one of the robots in two neat halves. Naruto blinked and then grinned.

"But I guess that I prefer good old brawling." Naruto and his clones gathered energy around their hands and threw themselves at the robots. Time to punch the oil out of those walking metal scraps.

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After 'imprinting' on some failed prototypes of Forge, Nimrod had made them imprison the latter in a stasis field to keep him from interfering with his downloading. He was at his weakest, there. Now that he knew that help was coming, he could have decided to just simply interrupt it. But now…

"**Programming and hardware transfer complete."** The 'original' body of Nimrod fell to the ground, now nothing but an empty, damaged, vacant piece of metal. And the new body, Forge's creation, started working suddenly. And talking with Nimrod's voice. **"Rebooting. Nimrod Unit 2.0 online. Mutants detected, Designation: Forge. Designation: New X-Men. Commence termination."**

_Now!_ Forge knew it was time to put to use the plan B. "Initiate Forge protocols, password: Ororo! Override foreign programming!"

"**Error! Error! Err…"** Forge wasn't an idiot. When had built that robot with two things in mind. First, that he would have a means to control it. Second, it was a copy of Nimrod, yes. In the sense that he would be just as powerful, in theory. His directives were the complete opposite of the super-sentinel. Nimrod was the mutants' nemesis. "Protocol 1: Protect Mutants." This Nimrod would be their most faithful guardian.

"Release the stasis field." Forge ordered. The robot complied, and dissipated the field of energy keeping Forge from moving. The mutant approached his creation smiling. He had just outsmarted a super-sentinel from the future that could see that very future being rewritten. "Not half bad for 'Plan B'. I think I can almost hear Nimrod screaming inside you."

"Error. This unit does not detect specified audio signal. Awaiting command." He chuckled. Actually, Nimrod had actually helped him to finish it earlier. Then, a sudden explosion brought him back to more pressing matters.

"The kids…" He had forgotten about the imprinted robots. "Initiate full defensive mode and get downstairs! There are mutants in trouble down there!"

"Protocol 1: Protect Mutants. Commence defense, subjects found : New X-Men."

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"Ouch! That hurt!" Naruto held his nose. That punch from the robot had hurt. But really, was that everything? He was expecting more lasers, maybe some rolling saws… They could just punch them? He snorted and dodged another attack, and then dropped his hands joined together on the back of his head, earning a loud crack. He then landed on its back. "Let's see what you have inside, shall we?" He opened his arms and gathered a lot of chakra around it. He clawed right through the robot's protection. He grabbed a bunch of random cables and pulled them out with sparkles as a scenic effect. The robot fell to the ground with a loud noise. Naruto grinned. "Whoops. Guess you needed them. Too bad." He turned to the rest of the room. The only robots left were the one Santo was strangling… And the one sneaking up on Nori. "Oh, shit! Noriko!"

The blue haired girl didn't hear him, though. She was too focused on the fight and another matter. "I swear to god, Keller, if you leave David alone for one second I will… Aahhh!" An explosion coming from behind her made Noriko instinctively bring her hands behind her head, to protect it. And everyone in the room to turn in her direction.

Naruto did too, eyeing the new robot. It was much bigger than the ones they had been fighting till that moment, and all blue. Also, one of its 'hands' was still smoking from the blow he had just delivered. The blonde blinked and then grinned. "Hey, I guess this Forge guy sent some bac…"

"Take it!"

"Eh?!" Naruto's face went 'WTF' mode hearing those words. And what made him even more 'WTF' was that the others obeyed Nori's command. "Hey! What the hell are you doing?!"

"What does it seems to you?! Taking out the big robot!" Noriko replied, before charging in as well.

"Idiot! Didn't you see?! That thing shot down the robot that was sneaking up you!" Naruto ran towards the others, trying to stop them.

Protocol Error. Protect mutants.

"W-What?" David was the first one to react. The others didn't hear Naruto's warning. And then the black skinned boy heard the words from the blue robot fairly well. "It's not fighting us… It said 'Protect'. Nori! Nori, stop!"

"Error. Protocol conflict." It seemed that no one heard David either. Especially Cessily, who just kept on stabbing the robot with her morphed arms. And Naruto didn't like the blue bolts coming from the robot's body. They seemed to become more dangerous-looking by the second. The ninja just accelerated.

"Cessily, Get out of there!" Just as David said that, Forge appeared, walking out of an elevator. And he paled when he heard his robot say the word 'Reboot'.

"No… No! Stop attacking!" Forge tried to warn them, but he feared it was too late. "Nori, get everyone away from that machine!"

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!" It was too late. The energy had suddenly become harmful, its first victim being Cessily who still hadn't pulled her arms out of its body.

"Cess!" Naruto ran to her and tried to pull her away… "Ah!" But he couldn't even touch her, his hand burning just by approaching her body. But she was in pain. "You freaking idiot! I told ya! Aaaaargh!" He ignored the bolts and the pain and grabbed on her body, trying to pull her away with all his strength. But it was hard to grab firmly onto something made of liquid metal. "Nnnngh! Cessily, turn back to normal! Get a grip of yourself!"

"Cessily, no!" Said Julian. Forge just kept on saying to 'get them out of there', now including Naruto as well. Watching his skin getting charred wasn't exactly a nice view.

"Aaaaargh!"

"Stay still!" Suddenly, Naruto raised his head to see Laura jumping towards them. Naruto just complied. He stood still… And then fell on his butt with Cessily in his grip when the other girl's claws cut off Cessily's hands. She then jumped back and landed near there. "We have to get away."

"T-Thanks…"

"Rebooting." While the more emotional mutants helped Cess, Forge and the others just kept on staring at the now damaged robot. Forge with horror. "Repairs in progress. Protocol error. Error. Foreign programming detected. Error. Foreign substance corrupting physical system" He had just seen some pink among all the blue light. "Error. Foreign programmingError. Rebooting."

"Cess, are you alright?!"

"I'm… I'm okay." She had gotten a grip of herself. And she was staring and reforming her hands. When she was done, she turned to Naruto… And gasped. He was healing some bad burns. "Y-Your face…"

"Ah, don't worry. I'm just glad you're okay…" He got up… And then bonked her and Noriko on their heads, earning 'yelps' of pain. "So that I can knock some sense into you!"

"Ouch!" Noriko held her head. "What the hell?!"

"That's my line! That robot didn't attack you! What the hell possessed you to attack it?!" Replied Naruto. David had more pressing concerns.

"Foreign programming?" He asked.

"You couldn't have known…" Forge replied, observing with horror as the appearance of his creation and its voice slowly changed. "Nimrod came to me for repairs, but I transferred his A.I. in another body, an Anti-Sentinel unit I created for the institute. My programming overwrote Nimrod's, but this… This is bad."

"**Reconfiguring hardware to software specifications. Reset LCD matrix. Commencing."** It was like it was changing its skin. From blue it was becoming once again bright neon pink. And in a flash of light, it was complete. Nimrod was back into one piece, ready to kill mutants again… And its eyes immediately focused on the ones around him. **"This unit is now online. Mutants detected. Target: Forge. Target: New X-Men. Solution in progress."**

"… I have seen that pose in a Dragon Ball episode." Naruto commented. He had been keeping himself adjourned on everything that was home entertaining. Nimrod had closed its fists and was holding its bended arms close to its body, and it was glowing more than usual.

"**Termination commences in 3… 2…"**

"What the hell is going on?!" Noriko said. She didn't like that. At all.

"**1…"**

"I HATE pink…" Naruto spoke again. And then had the confirmation that it really was like a move from that Dragon Ball episode, since the blast that originated from the sentinel's body destroyed half of the building in a massive explosion.

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Valerie knew that they wouldn't find the runaway students with normal means. And so, that left her with no other option but to call for the help of a telepath. A telepath able of using Cerebra, nonetheless. And that meant asking for help from students of the school. The Cuckoos.

"You really shouldn't be in here, Dr. Cooper. Your brain is in terrible danger." Celeste said to the officer of the O*N*E. The woman just ignored the warning.

"I'll take my chances. Did you find them?" She asked to the one wearing Cerebra's helmet. Mindee.

"I can hear them… They're in Texas." That had been the easy part, but… Reading inside their mind was another thing. She focused. "Their thoughts are so chaotic… They're being attacked." She focused her mind more to find out what they were facing, why… It was hard, though. "I don't understand… What they're saying…" She had to focus on something else. Like, a single word being in the thoughts of everyone, a common word… "A name…" She knew it was a name before she even heard the full word. Then, her eyes widened. "Nimrod. I have to tell Miss Frost."

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In the meanwhile, outside the school…

"Thanks. Keep your change."

"I will buy bandages with it… Ouch…"

"I guess that's what happens when you try to hit on a moody cat alien…" Nightcrawler said, trying his best to keep his voice low. The taxi driver that had accompanied one half of the group had had the bad idea of trying to hit on Hepzibah. The lady reacted by trying to reduce his face to smithereens. The only thing that calmed her had been Xavier's powers. The professor then turned to his school… And he noticed a few changes. Like, a lot more O*N*E soldiers than what he remembered and his courtyard somewhat more charred than before. "… What has happened in my absence?"

"Are you… Are you professor Xavier?" Charles turned to the soldier who had just addressed him. He seemed intimidated by him. If it was because of his person or of his powers, he didn't know. He just nodded.

"Yes, I am. Is something wrong?" The soldier nodded.

"There's a situation. I'm sure that miss Cooper will need your cooperation."

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"I'm just saying that I think that the kids will not be quiet about the thing. And that they could be right.."

"Logan, we've been talking about this from the departure. Did they really get to you? I thought you knew better than that. I understand that you're worried about them but… This is just stupid." Emma huffed. Men… Logan just snorted.

"Like the brat said to me, the freaking robot's name was written by Jay in his own blood while he was on heaven's doormat. I wouldn't dismiss it as paranoia, 'leader'." Wolverine insisted. Emma had half an idea of silencing the both of them with her powers, when those same powers caught the mental message of the cuckoos. In a fraction of second, she knew everything she needed to know.

"Oh, dear god." Her eyes widened. She was left speechless for a second. Cyclops noticed it.

"Did the girls find them?" He asked.

"The children are with Forge, Scott. They're defending him from Nimrod." No one could see it because of the visor, but this time it was Scott's eyes' turn to widen. In that simple facial motion, one could read surprise, guilt and shame all at the same time.

"No…" It was the only word that came out of his mouth.

"Because we didn't listen to them…" Emma closed her eyes and lowered her head, her thoughts similar to Scott's ones. "They're all going to die."

_Continue…_

_In the next chapter…_

The battle rages on against Nimrod. And Naruto finds himself in quite a predicament, finding himself torn between two emotions that make him unable to take a decision. Will he snap out of it? What will be the outcome of the battle? Stay tuned.


	13. Nimrod IV

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto nor Marvel… MEINOS SMASH.

**No Reading**

**Chapter11:**** Fearsome power**

"**Reacquiring targets."** Nimrod was a symbol of the most advanced technology known to man. Powerful and possessing various 'accessories' that made it even more deadly. Like a teleporting device and the most advanced scanners ever created. Not only could it be used to locate mutants all over the world, but it also was able to gain immediate knowledge about their powers and to modify itself to make up countermeasures and/or defenses on the spot.

At the moment, it was being used to see if the targets were still alive. It knew that under all that rubble they were still there. And three of them were a high threat to the supersentinel, one of them even a severe threat.

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"Is everyone okay?" Noriko lightened the space they occupied and her first concern was of course for her team's safety. Santo was the first to react and to voice the predicament they were in.

"My nose itches. And… And this building is really heavy." But still, Rockslide and Mercury were able to somehow stop it from flattening them. Naruto was the first one among the others to come to his senses.

"Nnngh… That hurt… Like a bitch…" Naruto had not quite understood what had happened. He just remembered a green light and hitting his head… He blinked. Green light? And he then observed Julian unconscious on the ground. Of course… He had protected them from the explosion and the falling of the entire building. "Julian…"

"The machine is cutting a path to our position." After checking on Forge, Laura got back on her feet. Naruto groaned and got back on his feet. Always good news, hn?

_Still… That hit was very powerful. Maybe as powerful as…_ Naruto shook his head. No. It hadn't been that strong, but the blow would have still killed them if it hadn't been for Julian. "How is he?"

"He needs medical attention, Naruto."

"No, he does not." Laura stated. The blonde turned to her. "His heart rate is increasing, he will wake up soon."

"Please… Just go… Run…" Forge stumbled to his feet, losing blood from a cut to his head. Laura frowned.

"And he has a concussion." She said. Naruto rubbed his nose. Was there anything the girl had not been trained in?

"Nimrod will kill you, like it killed Ororo. It'll go to the institute… Infect the O*N*E's sentinels, like it did mine…" That got everyone's attention. That did not bode well. "It will kill everyone. The students, the 198, the X-Men… Every last mutant, eradicated."

"The we have to destroy it." Noriko stated. That was the most obvious option and choice, but…

"We can't. I mean, the X-Men couldn't…" Indeed. The X-Men have never managed to destroy Nimrod in an open battle. "There's no way we can… There's just no way."

"Then we warn the X-Men and buy them as much time as we can. Hopefully, they can evacuate the institute before… Before it's too late." Noriko immediately made up another plan. If they couldn't beat it, then… There was no other choice. That dropped the mood of everyone in the room. Cessily felt something tugging at her stomach… or What essentially should be her stomach. She said…

"We're not going to make it, are we?" She said. Naruto lowered his eyes and turned two more bracelets. Three tails of power.

… _Maybe I should… No. I can't control that power yet. I mean, I could just bring__ the rest of the building down on us. That, and they could get caught in the blast as well._ "… It's coming." He said, feeling noises coming from above, the rubble being moved.

"The sentinel is close." Laura stated, unsheathing her claws again.

"Wake him up, Sooraya!" Noriko said. They were going to need Julian's powers a lot more.

"… I don't know about you, guys…" Naruto used the Kage Bunshin once again, making one more copy of himself. Julian woke up Just as the 'ceiling' was finally moved revealing Nimrod,

"**Targets reacquired. Termination in progress."** The copy and the original suddenly joined hands and started to gather energy, raising wind and dust around them in a swirl. Then, they jumped towards Nimrod, a ball of red and black energy in their hands, surprising everyone.

"Naruto! No!" Cessily screamed.

"I'm not going down without a fight! Oodama Rasengan!" The sphere was slammed into Nimrod's chest. The energy exploded for meters around the sentinel, and more rubble fell to the ground due to the shockwave.

"**Target: Flail. Life Energy Attack. Adapting****. Countermeasures in place."** The sentinel simply said, while its body trembled from the shock of the attack.

"Aaaaaargh!" The copy disappeared after a while, when the momentum of the technique was lost. Naruto grinned. "I got you!" The smoke cleared, to reveal… Naruto paled.

"**Medium Damage to**** exterior chassis. Initiate repair."** Naruto observed the robot in horror. His attack had just… It had already started repairing. And it had barely done any damage to the robot. It had scraped around two centimetres of its armour.

"This isn't…" While lost in his thoughts, Nimrod punched him and sent him flying into the wall behind him, making him cough up blood. "Gaaak!"

"**Repair complete. Target: Flail. Re-Evaluation. Threat Level: Low."** Noriko reacted immediately, and started her bolt-fest, sending giga-watts of electricity in Nimrod's direction.

"Get out of here, David! Go!" David obeyed. No use in staying there, if he couldn't be of help… And he just knew how to become some kind of help. First of all, though, he helped Forge back to his feet.

Noriko's attack hit Nimrod, who seemed to get some kind of damage… For the first second. **"Target: Surge. Electrical Attack. Adapting. Countermeasures in place."**

"Come on, come on…" David started dragging Forge away, who just kept on weakly muttering 'Can't fight it… Run…'.

"**Proximity alert. Multiple targets approaching."** Naruto recovered and got back on his feet just to witness Nimrod starting to hover above the ground yet again, putting himself in a certain pose yet again. **"Solution in progress."**

"Aaak!" Another blast of energy. This one though emitted a humming sound, and it wasn't as powerful as before. It didn't hurt them badly. It was meant to stun them. And stun them it did. ;They all ended up on the ground around the robot, laid out around the crater he had just formed. The sentinel hovered back to the ground and set feet on it again, observing his handiwork.

"**Proceeding with termination."** He raised his arm towards the nearest and most shaken member of the team, his hand starting to gather pink energy yet again, accumulating enough of it to destroy him on the spot. Julian didn't understand yet what was about to happen, moaning in pain.

"Julian…" Santo and Noriko were the first to come to their senses. Noriko was the first to talk.

"Get… We have to get up… Santo, get up!" Santo mostly ignored Noriko's words. Because observing Julian's shape, about to get erased by existence, something came back to his mind. Brian. He had died as well. He hadn't managed to protect him. And now Julian…

"No, not again…" He got up in a flash and displayed more speed than his rocky body should permit him, he ran in front of Julian and pushed him away. "NOT AGAIN!" Just as Nimrod unleashed his attack, pulverizing him. Literally. The energy blast destroyed him, to pieces, scattering him all over the place. The biggest chunk left of him was a piece of his face. The first to snap out of the horror was Cessily… With tears and a shout.

"SANTOOO!"

"FUCKING MACHINE!" The next one was Julian. He summoned all his power. Noriko kept some kind of reason.

"Keep it together, Hellion! We have to hold out!" She said.

"THEN BACK ME UP! RAAAAAAAAA!" He unleashed everything he had on Nimrod, scraping pieces of his body off.

"**Telekinetic event in progress. Compensating."** Nimrod immediately put up countermeasures for the attack. Noriko joined Julian, as soon did everyone but Cessily and Naruto. The latter was staring at the former who was crying over Santo's remaining pieces, shouting for him to reform. He gritted his teeth hard and then jumped back into the battle as well, covering his whole body with the fox's chakra.

"You're going down!!! You hear me?! DOWN!"

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"Hold on, Nori… Hold on…" David had ran back out to the blackbird. And then into it. Thanks to the firemen, the jet was now no longer in flames. He ignored their calls. He had to find that thing. He started searching through the plane. "I know you brought it." Various luggage. Medikit. "Laura, where did you put…" He smiled. "It." A big bag with the writing 'property of the Xavier's institute'.

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"Nnngh!" He had lost count of the times he had been shocked, zapped and swatted away. And every time he managed to do some kind of damage, that freaking robot repaired it. And since his energy attacks didn't work much, he had to go for brawling, his hands transformed into claws so that his chakra would take the same sharp shape. But whenever he managed to claw open some kind of injury to Nimrod's armor, it got repaired in seconds.

Laura was the one who managed to do the most damage, her claws being made of adamantium. But it wasn't not enough damage. Her tactics were still hit and run. Whenever she landed an hit, Nimrod was soon to counterattack. She jumped back to avoid another energy blast.

"**Initiate self-repair sequence. Repairing, 68 % Complete."**

"Cessily!" And while fighting, Julian and Noriko were trying to get Cessily to snap out of crying.

"Cessily! He's gone! Leave him!" Mercury just ignored her leader's call, having just lost her surrogate big brother.

"He isn't re-forming! Why isn't he re-forming?!" The only good thing that came from their try was for Nimrod. An opening. It zapped Noriko and Julian. Noriko was weak, but she managed to get back on her knees, at least.

"Kaf… Cess… Get out…" She said weakly, while Nimrod was preparing itself to take another life.

"Target: Surge. TerminatSQUAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARK!" With a loud blam, David shot Nimrod in the head with the rifle he had found in the planewreckage, and then hurried to Noriko's side, glaring at the robot. The hit had hurt. It was probably the one that had managed to hurt the robot the most, till now, opening up the right side of its head.

"**New Target Acquired. Alleyne, David. Human.**** Reclassify, Enemy Combatant."** The robot ignored its repairs for the time being, gathering energy again, this time in its chest, to get rid of the newest threat first. **"Terminate."**

"David…" Noriko said. Prodigy just hugged her close to him.

"I'm here, Nori." She smiled sadly.

"That… That was so stupid."

"MOVE!" Salvation came in a flash of green and red. Naruto and Julian slamming into the robot's side at full force. David helped Noriko back to her feet, while the two boys engaged the robot again.

"Have to find a way…" She was weak… But she needed to be strong. She needed to think. To be the leader. "My responsibility… My burden… Or everyone's going to die…"

"Nori! We got to go!" David was thinking only about running, at the moment, but Noriko had other things in mind.

"No. Screw slowing this thing down." Noriko stated, fury in her eyes. "We're going to send this robot to hell."

"Aaaaargh!" Naruto kicked it under his enormous chin, distracting him enough for Julian to uppercut him at full force. The robot sent another shockwave as a reaction. Forge had come back as well, still stumbling because of the concussion.

"There's no way to stop it." But his opinion about the outcome of the battle hadn't changed much.

"There has to be a way, Forge. There's always a way." She retorted.

"This is suicide. Let the X-Men…"

"No. There's no time. We have to stop it." Dust had joined Julian and Naruto in the battle, while Cessily had managed to snap out of it. She and Laura had joined the planning.

"You shouldn't walk with a concussion. It's very bad for you." Not before X-23 made a statement about Forge's physical condition. David understood Noriko's feelings. He started to think.

"Forge…" He turned to the inventing mutant. "You said that you transferred Nimrod's programming into something you created… Could it now have some weakness the original Nimrod didn't?"

"No. Nimrod updated the anti-sentinel with its own hardware. It essentially re-created itself." Forge's statement didn't make for a bright future. Just as Naruto was slammed into Julian again. "It's indestructible… Self-repairing…" Naruto rolled out of the way just in time to dodge a vicious stomp to his head. "Unstoppable. We have to…" Then… Forge's face suddenly got serious… Better. Something had just come to his mind. "Wait a minute. Not everything inside the robot is Nimrod." This new Nimrod didn't have nothing less… But it had something more. "The time device."

"The what?" Noriko said. Explanations were needed. Just as Naruto tried to claw an opening behind Nimrod's right knee. Useless. He didn't have a human's same built.

"COULD YOU PLEASE HURRY UP WITH THE PLANNING?!" He shouted out while he somersaulted to dodge a punch.

"If we overload the time device inside Nimrod, it would detonate, taking him down from the inside out." Forge explained.

"…" Overload, detonate… Noriko liked the sound of that. Her eyes sparkled with electricity. "I can do that."

"Uhn!" Julian got zapped breaking his focus and his telekinesis.

"No! It's too dangerous!" David said. Noriko just said 'I' before David resumed talking. "Don't you understand?! You'd have to get through Nimrod's armor, expose the device and keep it exposed while you attacked!"

"David, listen…" She tried. He was adamant.

"No! He'll kill you, Nori!"

"Julian!"

"I got him, Dust!" Naruto jumped and pushed Julian out of the way of a energy blast from Nimrod, but he couldn't get the momentum right, and they ended up stumbling on the floor.

"David's plan is sound." Laura smiled. David wanted them to desist, but he had just told them how to execute the overloading. "I will open up the sentinel."

"No… That's not what I meant…" David tried to say, but got cut off by Cessily almost immediately.

"I can keep it open, as long as you need. This thing killed Santo." She said, her tone as angry as it could ever get, eyeing the crouching forms of Naruto and Julian, now under full attack from Nimrod, protected only by Julian's telekinetic field. "I'll do whatever it takes!"

"Guys, don't do this…" The only reaction she got was a loud noise. Noriko's getting her gloves off and letting them fall to the ground.

"All the killing, all the death… We have to stop it, David." Without her gloves, she wouldn't be able to control the absorption of electricity anymore, but she didn't need control. She needed power. Lots of power. She crouched in some sort of martial arts guard. "It has to end here. Tonight. No matter what it takes."

"…" Naruto felt powerless. Nimrod was filling the room with bolts of lightning. He couldn't create a bunshin since it would be zapped in a second in that narrow space. And he couldn't reach Nimrod nor get out of Julian's field… _Damn it… Damn it! I have to use the fourth tail… But if I do that…_

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Outside… The whole city of Dallas lost power. All the electricity in a radius of kilometres got absorbed by one mutant.

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"Nyaaaaargh!"

"I think we're in deep shit…" Julian wouldn't be able to hold up the shield for much longer. Sooraya couldn't damage Nimrod enough… She changed tactic. She scattered herself everywhere around Nimrod, hoping to obfuscate his senses.

"Laura! Now!" Nori ordered. With a 'snikt', X-23 was ready to go.

"**Contact with primary target lost;"** Nimrod couldn't detect Julian clearly anymore. Its last attack missed just as Julian lost control of his telekinetic field. **"Malfunction! Mutant Designation: Dust Obfucating Sensors."** It raised its arm and turned into Dust's direction… **"Solution in progress."**

"Aieeee!" It unleashed another bolt of pink energy. Sooraya turned back to human form and fell to the ground, crying out in pain.

"Sooraya!" Naruto cried out seeing her fall on the ground… He then blinked and followed Laura with his eyes as… As she charged Nimrod right on? "L-Laura?! What…"

"Raaaargh!" Laura jumped straight in the face of the corner, and with a few well aimed swipes, she opened an enormous gash all over the front armour of Nimrod.

"**Massive damage to exterior chassis; Mutant Designation: Talon attack in progress."** Naruto had learned about why that kind of attack was a double-edged blade back in his genin days. Those kinds of attacks let you deal quite an amount of damage, but also left you open for the enemy's counter-attack. **"Implement force field for future attack."** And Logan had told him and Laura that they weren't made for that kind of berseker attacks because they didn't heal as fast as him… **"Initiate counter-measures."** And most of all, they didn't have an adamantium skeleton to protect their inner organs from harm.

It all happened so fast that he later would forget the order in which it had happened. He was fairly sure, though, that he didn't wait for Laura's body to fall to the ground after being horribly charred by Nimrod's attack. About half-way there, he turned the fourth bracelet. The outburst of energy was significantly bigger than anything they had felt before coming from him. That was why Cessily stopped and did not proceed to jump on Nimrod to attack him. Everyone in the room had that feeling. It was better to not be in front of Naruto.

The blonde, in his mind, wasn't thinking about anything anymore. First Santo, now Laura… He was going to kill that bastard. He was going to use the fourth tail's attack at full power. It didn't matter that he couldn't control it. It didn't matter that by using it at half power in the danger room his jaw had been destroyed in the process. That thing had to die. He gathered all the chakra he had just unleashed in his throat, compacting it in a small bubble.

"**Warning. Target Designation: Flail. ****Massive Energy build-up. Initiate count…"** If his tongue hadn't been the first thing to burn, Naruto would have said 'counter this'. But it didn't change the rest of what happened. The entire 'room' got filled with red light the same moment Naruto let out that enormous burst of energy, it hit Nimrod dead on, and what was behind him. Good thing Naruto was aiming high, or a lot of Dallas would have been taken out along with half of Eagle Plaza.

"Aaaaaaaaaah!" David and the others had to shield their eyes from the debris and the wind raised by the explosion that followed suit. Julian raised another force field to shield them from the fall of new debris, while the entire building shook to its core. It was like an earthquake. When everything calmed down, Julian was the first to turn around in Nimrod's direction. He saw Naruto falling to the ground, probably unconscious. And Nimrod was covered in smoke. When the smoke cleared… Everyone in the room gasped.

"**Warning. Danger. Massive damage to exterior chassis. Critical damage to appendages. ****High damage to targeting systems."** It was a sight to behold. Half of the robot's exterior armour was missing, like it had been ripped off it violently. And its left arm and leg were completely missing. They had been destroyed, vaporized. Simply put out of existence. Cessily remembered what she had seen in the danger room when she had gone to call him… So, that was what he was… **"Initiating repairs."** That snapped everyone out of their reverie. Cessily jumped on the robot's back almost immediately. She doubted that the robot could repair fully before they had a chance to touch him, but, she wasn't going to take that chance.

"Monster! I won't let you hurt anyone else!" She was holding on its exterior chassis with her hands transformed into claws, even if the robot's attention was to first reform its lost appendages.

"**Error. Self-repair systems are being inhibited by mutant designation: Mercury. Casting shockweb."**

"Aaaaaaaaaaah!" Suddenly, Nimrod started to flash with pink energy yet again, hurting Cessily in the process. The girl was resisting, but that thing was shaking her very structure. "Nnnn! Nori! I can't…"

"It's okay, Cess. I'm here." She was indeed. Noriko landed upon Nimrod as well, her hands landing on the Time Device. And then… She unleashed the torrent of electricity she had been holding back in a storm of blue bolts spreading out in every direction. And one would say that Nimrod's face had transformed into a silent scream.

"**Alarm! Massive systems disruption."**

"Nnnnn…" Cessily let go, starting to lose control of her own molecular structure, turning into silver goo. Nori just kept on letting out electricity.

"Please… God… Let this work." She just focused on overloading Nimrod with everything she got. Everything else seemed unimportant to her at the moment.

"**Compensating... Error! Chronal device unshielded! Error!"** In human words, Nimrod had just said that it was fucked.

"YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!" Noriko unleashed even more power with a battle-cry. And Nimrod started getting enveloped by its same energy.

"**Alarm: Chronal device overloading."** It was losing control of all of his body, which was falling apart piece by piece. Nothing responded to its will anymore. There was just destruction, taking him apart from the inside out. **"Weapon systems non-responsive. Teleportation systems non-responsive. Physical form and mass fluctuating."** Physical… That was unexpected, to everyone's ears. David and Forge understood fully what was about to happen. Nori just understood that the thing was going down along with her. **"This unit is in jeopardy."**

"Nori!" Called David.

"Have to get her out…" Forge stated, feeling currently powerless. "Get her out!"

"David…" Surge understood in a fraction of second that she was hopeless. "I love…"

"Ashida…" But then, there were some nice advantages to having a telekinetic in your team, weren't there? "Shut… Up…"

"Ahhh!"

"**Catastrophe-level event in progress!!! SQUAAAAAAAAAAA-!."** Julian pulled Noriko away just as Nimrod's energy exploded and enveloped it whole. Its shape got distorted and covered, till the ball of pink energy then suddenly started to shrink till it disappeared… Along with Nimrod. Calm reigned again. It was gone. No more rays of death, no more trying to kill them… It was over. They had defeated something that the senior X-Men had never managed to deafeat. But that just meant there were other pressing matters at hand.

"Cess! Sooraya!" Julian's immediate concern was for his team-mates. Sooraya was being helped back to her feet by Forge, muttering something in her native tongue. Cess… Julian's face turned sad. Cessily had managed to get back to Santo's remains. He got back on her feet and approached her.

"Santo… Please come back." She was crying. How she could cry even with her 'body situation', he didn't know… But it just hurt seeing her in that state nonetheless. "I'm sorry I was so mean to you… Please…"

"…" Julian leaned a hand on her shoulder and then embraced her. Cessily weakly returned the embrace, tears flowing. "It's okay, Cess. We're going to be okay."

"Yeah, don't cry, Cess…" That voice… Julian and Cessily turned around… And were showered with a feeling of joy and relief when they saw that ugly, rocky face moving among the debris of the rest of his body. "I hate it when you cry."

"Santo?!" She cried out. Julian just laughed.

"Ah!" It was a 'I knew it! I knew it he wasn't going to die that easily!'. The face-only Santo began looking around.

"What the hell?!" He couldn't move his body… Not that he could find it anywhere, actually. "Uh, did anyone see my… My… You know, my body?" Pronto. Julian turned on his telekinesis yet again, gathering all the pieces of Santo's body and putting it back together again, in a slightly more 'sharp' fashion, though. It looked more cool, in his opinion.

"Ow. Thanks." It kinda hurt, though. Santo didn't let others know, but it hurt when he was put back together. Not much, but it still… His attention got diverted to something else before his whole body was back together. "Hey, what happened to them? They don't look so good…" Santo focused better, and Sooraya's startled scream got the attention of Julian and Santo too. "Scratch that! She doesn't look good! Clone boy is a mess!"

"Eh? Naruto?!" Cessily turned around… And indeed, Laura didn't look good. All the damage from Nimrod was still there. It seemed like the ray had, among other things, blocked her healing factor. But Naruto… The blast that had damaged Nimrod so heavily had damaged him heavily as well. It was like his body was desperately trying to regrow the front part of his chest and mouth, but had to stop somewhere between the blood vessels and the muscles. He was bleeding profusely because the healing factor had become so slow that all that it could do was supply the body with more blood, basically just lengthening his agony. Cessily fainted when she saw that bloody mess that was currently his chest go up and down.

"Hk…" Julian caught Cessily and gently let her on the ground and then approached them in a flash, and lifted the two off the ground with his telekinesis.

"We have to get them to the institute! We have to get them to Josh!" He shouted. They couldn't lose anyone anymore. Not again, like Santo had shouted before. Noriko voiced her thoughts while trying at the same time to hold in her dinner.

"Julian… They're not healing. They're not going to…"

"WE HAVE TO HELP THEM!" If it hadn't been for Laura they wouldn't have defeated that pink monstrosity. Naruto had saved him during battle and had dealt massive damage to the robot. At the cost of his own safety. David decided to talk in Noriko's stead, this time.

"The Black-Bird… It's wrecked. There's no way to get them home…" Julian turned to David, each of his word weighing a single ton on his shoulders. "Not in time."

"…" Was that it? They were going to just leave them to die? Without trying?

"Tttl…" Suddenly, Naruto's emitted a strange sound. It seemed that he had re-grown enough of his throat and vocal chords back to at least communicate in some way. But they just thought it was a dying man's last words… Everyone but Julian. He observed his whole body… And he noticed that one of his fingers was slowly raising. He was using His last strength… And it was pointing… Towards his belt pocket? Julian made both of them over to him.

"Your belt pocket? What…" Julian opened it in a flash… And found out some kind of strange device with two buttons. He focused his eyes and ears on Naruto too.

"Hhhd… Rrrd…" Julian was nothing but sharp, but it was like his mind had gone in overdrive by looking at his and Laura's bodies.

"Hold… I need…" It hit him in a few seconds. "I need to hold! I need to hold on both of you and then press the Red button, right?!" Julian didn't even think about anything else. He just made the two come over to him and lean their own hands on his body, while he pressed the red button.

"J-Julian, wh…" Noriko's voice was suddenly lost to him, because he wasn't there anymore. He blinked when he realized that he was… He was back at the institute? The device…

"A teleporter? Just…" He suddenly remembered why he was there in the first place "Don't die on me right now!" He pushed his telekinesis to full power and started bursting through walls, literally, to get them to the infirmary as fast as mutantly possible.

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"… Idiot." Layla was looking at the starry sky… Well, what was supposed to be the starry sky. The light pollution of New York city was something to behold. But she liked to imagine it as a starry sky. Because she knew how it looked like. But this time, even if she liked that sight, a tear found way down her right cheek. "You should have told them earlier…"

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"Elixir! Elixir!" Josh had been resting in the infirmary, all black, ever since the accident with Stryker. But he had retained some kind of sanity. The problem was, it wasn't like he couldn't understand what happened around him or was told to him in that state. It was more like… He couldn't find a reason to answer to those things in a normal way anymore. But Julian was going to force that out of him. "Get up!" With his telekinesis he got him out of his bed and his needle out of his arm, and at the same time brought the infirmary two dying persons. One blonde, one black. "They're dying, Foley! You have to save them! Come on! Heal them, dammit!" Josh was looking at them. It seemed that indeed, that had managed to get a reaction out of him. But he was still just looking, with pity and sadness. Julian didn't have time for that. He grabbed his throat with his left hand.

"I know you killed Stryker… But you're not a murderer, you're a healer!" He shouted in his face. Josh muttered a weak '…can't…'. Julian almost snarled. "Just because you couldn't save the others, just because you couldn't protect Laurie, doesn't mean you can't save them… Come on, Foley… Save them!" Josh slowly allowed his hands to touch his two injured comrades, hoping that Julian was right, that he could… That he was still…

"Htt!"

"Kk!" The two's reaction was immediate. All of Them got enveloped by a golden light. And it seemed like this time Naruto's healing factor didn't found Josh's healing as a disease. The last time it was probably because the healer had lost control of it. The two started growing back what they missed. Hair, skin, nose, jaw, muscles… Josh's skin instead started to go back to that wonderful golden tone that the girls loved so much. In a matter of seconds, Josh was back to full golden with a small dot of black, while Naruto and Laura were back in one piece, on the ground, one in front of the other.

"Laura? Naruto?" The two mutants said together, observing their forms, how their eyes were closed. They lost consciousness during the healing… Or maybe not. They started fluttering their eyes open… And then Naruto got in a sitting position while holding his jaw.

"Ooow! That hurt like a bitch! I knew I shouldn't have used it…" Then, he remembered where he was. He turned to the left and saw a smiling Laura saying 'Hi'. Josh replied with the same word, finally able to form coherent sentences again. Naruto didn't do anything else but throw himself at Laura and hug her tightly, making the girl blush. It seemed like emotions were finally starting to rub off on her. "Don't… Don't ever scare me like that again… Don't ever make me attack giant pink robots out of rage and desperation again…"

"…" Laura was a bit startled at first but then hugged him back, smiling as well, her eyes closed. Julian sighed.

"No hug for me? If it wasn't for my observational skill, you would have died horribly, you know…" He turned to Foley just as Josh turned to him as well… And then they hugged each other. "This feels gay enough to not care."

"Yo big hunka boy, you…"

Naruto and Laura stopped hugging to take in the scene. Naruto felt it was wrong. So very, very wrong on so many levels…

"Don't you freaking…" The O*N*E agents were supposed to freeze whoever had suddenly bashed through ten walls of the institute to get into the infirmary, but… Instead they found four scantily clothed teens hugging each other. "What the fuck are you doing?"

"Ehm… Long story… WOULD YOU TWO STOP HUGGING?! IT'S GETTING CREEPY, AND…" Naruto blinked and groaned. "And that's exactly why you're doing it, right? I really need to get a good night of sleep…"

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There are some things, mostly groups of people, that use the example of a lizard or something like that, never gotten much into it, to explain how they work. The head, the body. Even if the head gets severed, the rest of the body keeps on working and they eventually grow a new one or something. I need to research that metaphor better. The point is, the purifiers are among these kind of groups. They reorganized even after the failed attack and Stryker's fall.

Their first course of action was retrieving the reverend's body. With the help of one peculiar ally. The governor. All planned by the new head of the purifier. Matthew Risman. Next order of business was taking care of the unfinished plans. The assault at the Xavier had two objectives. One was hidden to the eyes of the mutants. It involved one of them, though. Matthew was currently in video-conference with the man who was doing that particular work for them.

"Did you obtain the sample?"

"No. The operation didn't go… As planned." Risman replied, observing the blonde doctor's face in the screen. "You'll need to extract it yourselves."

"Not a problem. We have someone well suited for this kind of thing." Indeed they had. Her powers made her basically perfect for those kind of jobs. And targets. She had the perfect control of her body molecular structure. So, that meant that close-range fighters had nothing on her… Well, maybe someone like the Hulk… The doctor then smiled and held out his left hand, rubbing together his fingers. Typical gesture to symbolize money. "I assume the money has been transferred?"

"Of course. Do not fail us." He spoke the last part of the sentence using a tone he used for his fellow purifiers, but he knew that to the man it just meant 'no work done, no money'. The doctor let the further reassuring be handled by one of his prized collaborators. The one he was going to give the 'retrieving' mission to.

"Don't worry, reverend. I've handled one of the most lethal mutants on the planet." The woman flexed her arm behind her back and grabbed the hilt of the weapon strapped on her back, a confident smile on her face. "I'll handle this one." Kimura. Profession assassin.

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"So, you sure nothing else happened?" Naruto groaned. They had kept each one of them inside that room for an hour each. But he knew that he had been in there longer than anyone, since he was the only one in the room not registered in the O*N*E's archive.

"I told you everything I've done! And my knowledge ends after I blew out my own jaw and upper part of my chest and ended up on the floor bleeding to death! Alright?!" He shouted, frustration taking the tool of him. He was still in his now ruined and soaked up in blood costume. He was tired, hungry, and worried shitless about Cessily and the others. And those guys were keeping him in here locked up to repeat the same things over and over again. And not even the gory details had moved that woman, it seemed.

"Hmmm…" She just let out a thinking noise. She then… Turned to open air? "What do you say, professor Xavier?"

"He's saying the truth." Naruto turned to the source of the voice… The void. Alright. That was… He blinked. He blinked and the next second he was staring at a newly appeared man. The man was dressed formally, and was bald and… He didn't know why. He gave away an aura of… Not like Cap. It was different. Cap gave away charisma, heroism… This man gave away knowledge, wisdom… And that Star Trek look. "Actually, I don't think you've ever told a lie in your whole life, son. Even if some of those truths got you beatings."

"How do you… Telepath?" He corrected his words almost immediately. Seen one, you've seen all… Or so Naruto thought. The man offered him a smile.

"Indeed. They say I'm the most powerful one existing, actually. That's why you couldn't see me just a few seconds ago. I was using my psychic powers so that you wouldn't be aware of my very existence."

"…" Naruto swallowed. Itachi Uchiha? Genjutsu? Compared to what he had just hear that man describe… "Ehm… You're not like Miss Frost, right?"

"… I've done things worse than Emma on more than one occasion. But that is a story for another time. There are people waiting for you, outside." Charles pointed at the door and Naruto found the woman nodding to him. He got up and found the man offering him his right hand, to shake. Naruto awkwardly agreed. "I'm Charles Xavier, by the way."

"Ch…" Naruto noticed that this was the guy the school was named after. "Ehm… It's an honour?" The mutant just smiled and put a hand on his back, motioning him gently towards the door.

--

Naruto opened the door and closed it behind him. And he had the time to turn a corner still wondering how big personalities of this world kept on coming to him out of the blue when a pair of silver arms pulled him and turned him around, and he then found himself being kissed deeply. Before he even had a chance to react, though, he got slapped so hard that his cheek went numb for five minutes, healing factor or not. He then got grabbed by what was left of his costume by the same hands. And surprisingly, Laura didn't feel like doing anything. Mainly because she didn't know what Cessily was upset about.

"DON'T EVER PULL SOMETHING LIKE THAT ON ME AGAIN, YOU HEAR ME?!" She had some amount of super-strength too, it seemed. He was feeling dizzy. "I THOUGHT I HAD ALREADY LOST SANTO! AND THEN I SAW YOU IN A POOL OF YOUR OWN BLOOD WITH YOUR RIBCAGE BUSTED UP FROM THE INSIDE OUT!" She started punching him on the chest repeatedly. And he was so going to tease her later for the fact that she couldn't control her mouth's shape much when she screamed. "AND YOU DID THAT TO YOURSELF! ON YOUR OWN! IF YOU EVER… I'LL… I'LL…" She slowly stopped punching him, letting tears get the best of her. She almost collapsed in his arms. Almost. She stopped halfway and leaned her forehead on his chest. "I… I was so scared… I thought… Sniff…" Her raging got reduced to sobs and sniffs. Naruto just wrapped his arms around her. And shot Julian a look. The black-haired boy understood and nodded.

"Come on, guys. Angry O*N*E officers are waiting for us." He started pushing all the other members of the team towards the nearby corridor with telekinesis. He used a bit more force with Laura. He brought her near Sooraya. She had a bit more influence on her than the rest of them. The two needed a moment alone. Laura had already had that for the day.

Once he was sure no one was in sight, Naruto started caressing Cess' hair and then kissed her on top of her head. He held her a bit more and then talked again.

"How about we talk about how sorry I am after I get out of this ruined and blooded outfit? The only red that fits you is your hair…"

"… Ok."

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"Are you going to stay in my room while I take a shower too?"

"Just to be sure that you don't try to kill yourself again." Naruto head-butted the shower's wall. He got out of it and turned off the water. He took some five minutes to wipe his body and his hair. Didn't want to leave her waiting. Then he put on the boxers and t-shirt he had chosen. And when he walked out, she was there. Still wearing her X-uniform, still sitting cross legged on the bedroom, still staring at him. He sighed and closed the door behind him. He then sat on the bed cross-legged as well. Cessily turned around to face him, staying silent.

"So? Are you going to stare at me like that for all evening or are you going to talk?" He said, not laughing at all. Cessily wasn't in the mood for laughing either.

"You almost killed yourself, there. And not because of Nimrod. Because of something you did to yourself." She stated. It was a statement. Nothing more, nothing less. "You were dying. If it wasn't for Julian and… That teleporter."

"…" Naruto observed her… And then shook his head. "I don't… Really know about that." Cessily blinked. A different reaction from what she had done in the last half an hour. Naruto saw her confusion and then decided to answer. "I… I don't think I would have died. I'm pretty positive that even if Julian didn't get me to Josh in time… I would have survived."

"… This…" Cessily put a hand to her forehead, and took a deep breath, still managing to keep it silent. "This isn't an attempt on excusing yourself, right?"

"At first… I was afraid of doing it. Because I was sure I would have died. But after…" Naruto held out his hand and flexed it. "It's like… It came to me. After all that damage had been done to my body… I… Instinctively felt I was going to heal."

"… What makes you say that?"

"… You see… I didn't get it till right now, but… My healing factor works a little differently from Logan's one. It basically makes my body stronger than what it was before it healed." Naruto cut into his own skin and watched it repair itself in seconds. "It makes it stronger, more agile, more resistant… What I didn't know was that… It also makes my body more suitable to channel this power I have."

"… So… The more you get hurt, the harder it becomes to hurt you afterwards?" She said. Naruto clenched his hand. And the more easier it became for the fox to take over him, should he… Nah. He was in a team. He was never going to face those kind of enemies alone… Right? Cessily sighed. "Still…"

"I wanted to protect you guys. I know that it doesn't make you feel any better about me doing something that you repute stupid, but… I did it because I didn't want you to end up like Laura and Santo." He said. Truthfully. He stared at her eyes, even if she was staring at the bed. "I can't say that I will not do something like that again. Because you're important to me, guys. You'll just have to trust me."

"… So… I'll have to trust that you won't die just because you said so and the knowledge that you're pretty hard to kill unless you do something stupid?" She said, half sarcastically. Naruto smirked. It was an opening. He suddenly jumped off the bed along with a sheet which he covered himself into.

"Not only that. Also because…" He held his arm in front of his face, covering half of it with the sheet, suddenly putting on a strange look, like he was trying to be mysterious. Cessily observed him, now half smiling. "I am the terror that flaps in the night…"

"No!" Cessily said, laughing right after, and then covering her face with both hands. "You're not going there!" Naruto just did two jumps and landed in front of her, switching arms in front of his face.

"I'm the stick up D&D Lawful Good paladins' ass…" Cessily burst out laughing and fell with her back on the bed. Naruto just jumped on top of the bed, over with his legs?, and opened the sheet. "I'm DAAAARKWIIIIING DUCK! Let's get dangerous!" When Cessily recovered from the laughing fit, she felt the need to ask.

"When in hell did I let you watch Darkwing Duck?" Then, she remembered. "Right. Copies. Still, I preferred when you did the Ash Williams thing."

"Alright, then." Naruto threw away the sheet and leaned down on her. "Give me some sugar, baby."

"… Come here, you suicidal idiot." She grabbed his head and pulled him down to her level, kissing him hungrily. She only stopped when she felt him trying to get out of her vice grip. She probably didn't need to breath, but Naruto did.

_Continue…_

_In the next chapter…_

Things have calmed down and went back to normal. Naruto wins a field trip to Stark's pimp-pl… Ehm, Tower. Stark Tower. But while he is away, fate is bound to make shit happen. And that's not only his two favourite X-girls talking to each other about him. Stay tuned!


	14. Mercury Rising I

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto nor Marvel… MEINOS SMASH.

**No Reading**

**Chapter12:**** Trouble never stops coming**

"A bit more to the right… Yes, that's it… Alright!"

"Always a pleasure for Uzumaki&Clones Moving…" When he went back home he was seriously thinking about opening the thing for real. He would make god didn't know how much money in so little time… Beast had the same opinion, what with the whole 'take in the new furniture for the infirmary on your own'. He dispelled the clones. That was the last one. He turned around just to see a silver hand offering him a glass of lemonade. He took it with a grin. "Thank you, honey. Want me to take care of the courtyard, later?"

"I really hope you were talking to me and not to mister McCoy, blondie. Otherwise, I might think you're into furries." If he was, that would mean Cessily suddenly had another opponent in her quest for love. They were currently housing a cat-woman. A hot alien cat-woman. Good thing she seemed depressed and not really into knowing new males. Naruto in reply just gulped down the glass in one shot and handed it back to her. "So, what's next?"

"The infirmary was the last thing. We're done." Said Cessily, stretching a little. "Thanks to your help, we finished in three days. And we're talking about rebuilding whole walls, here."

"What can I say… I live to multiply. But I don't see you bitching about it." She shoved him aside blushing. She had just asked him for a massage… But the thing ended up in a three way make out session. Damn her and her silver hormones… Henry just turned around chuckling. Young ones…

"Naruto…" The thing was interrupted by Laura calling out for Naruto from the door. He turned around and smiled to her too. "Mister Summers wanted me to remind you about the agreement you took with the Avengers."

"The…" Naruto blinked… And then opened his mouth in a 'Aaaaahhh…' of realization. Right. He had to undergo some exams under the supervision of a certain Tony Stark to find out what exactly he was and where he came from. He thought about it… The whole Nimrod incident had blown over, and things were back to normal. The school had been rebuilt… "Well, I guess it's okay, now. No deadly enemies in sight… So, I guess I can go and make these exams."

_I just sent a telepathic message to Mr Stark. A Quinjet will come and pick you up in forty minutes. I suggest you go, have a shower and get dressed. Pack up a quick change of clothes as well. You could be staying overnight._ Naruto blinked. He was never going to get used to the fact that someone could be monitoring his every thought. He scratched the back of his head. "Oh, well. Gotta go and get changed. I'll see you later, girls." He kissed Cessily on the right cheek and then rushed towards the door, and did the same with Laura on his way out. Laura turned around following him with her eyes. With a… Un-Laura gaze. Cessily noticed this.

… _Now that I think about it…_ Cessily began to think about something… After that little fight on the day of the funeral, the clawed mutant hadn't been hostile towards her. Almost the complete opposite. She talked to her like she talked to everyone else… She sweatdropped remembering the 'hug-train' incident. She wondered what was up with that… Well, one thing at the time. "What's with the longing face?"

"… We haven't talked much, lately…" She raised an eyebrow… And then shook her head smiling.

"Welcome to the club. Ever since the fight with Nimrod, he has only been focused on helping with the rebuilds." She approached her and put a hand on her shoulders. "It's not about you. It's about him."

"… I know… Still… I don't think I like it." She didn't she liked it… And then she asked herself why the hell was she being so nice to her. She was her rival, right? Well, maybe it was because she didn't know much about those kind of situations… She felt like… It wasn't fair.

"Well, why don't you come with me? We can wait for him to get ready and then see him off." She suggested. Laura turned to her and after a few seconds of silence she said…

"I… I'd like to."

--

"Alright, toothbrush, a t-shirt…" He slapped his head and put in what he was about to forget. "I knew I was forgetting something. I need to put underwear in first, when…" Then, he felt a fairly loud noise coming from outside. He turned around and watched out of his window. He blinked. It kinda was like the X-Wing… Just grey and red and a bit smaller… "I suppose that's my ride… How did miss Frost call it? A quintet?" He put on his jacket and closed his bag, strapping it over his left shoulder. "Well… Time to go."

Naruto closed the door of his room behind him and put the key in his right pocket. He then walked down the stairs and out of the dormitory, in the courtyard where the thing was hovering over the ground and people had come to see him off. Miss Frost and everyone from his team except for Santo. He blinked and turned to Julian.

"Where's Santo?" He asked. Julian chuckled.

"In his room moping about the fact that you'll hang around the Avengers for a while, since that includes Janet Pym and Carol Danvers." Naruto palmed his own face, hearing the reply. He then shook his head and returned to saying hi to his friends. He highfived Julian, Josh and Noriko and shook David's hand. He hugged Sooraya.

"Hey, you've got my phone number. Let me know when Laurie wakes up." Said that, that left the white queen and his two favourite girls. He decided to say hi to them first. "Well, be good girls when I'm away, alright?"

"I'll try, but…" Cessily replied first and then put her hands on Laura's shoulder, pushing her a bit forward. "She's missing you already. Go figure…" Laura blushed at that. Yes. She honestly blushed. She was… Embarrassed. Naruto chuckled. And lowered his head to look at her from down up.

"For real? Laura is gonna miss big little me?" He teased. And incredibly, that seemed to have some kind of effect, since Laura just turned her head to the side, not moving her face the littlest, but her blush still there. Naruto didn't show it, but he was beaming. Laura was showing something more than competence in fighting and killing people. He chuckled and then… Knew what to do. He put a hand in his right pocket. "I've got something for you, then."

"… What is it?" Said Laura, observing Naruto pull something out of his pocket. The boy had been really thankful that he had found again the necklace. It seems he had lost it after de-transforming the first day he had arrived. He had found it while taking care of the courtyard. He held it out with both his hands and put it around Laura's neck, surprising the girl a little. "Oh…"

"This is a gift from… Let's say my grandma. I know it's ugly, but it's a very precious possession of mine." He replied, smiling. "I want it back when I return, alright?"

"I…" Laura observed the new addition to her clothing picking it up with her right hand. She didn't know why… But… She felt very happy that Naruto was lending it to her. She nodded. "I will take care of it."

"… Now I'm jealous." Cessily crossed her arms over chest and turned around pouting. She wasn't joking. She really was jealous. Naruto grinned and leaned over to talk to her in her right ear.

"I left you a surprise in your room…" That made her blink. Cessily turned around to ask for further information, but Naruto was already walking towards the quinjet. His stare met Emma's one.

_Just a tip, Militia._ Another telepathic advice. He was cool with that. _Don't trust Tony too much._

_Alright._ Suddenly, the quinjet's door opened and it hovered closer to the ground. Naruto stepped inside it and turned around one last time, waving at the others. "I'll see you…" Before he could finish the sentence, the door closed again in his face. He glared at it. "Hey! I was still talking, you dumb door!" He then turned around, to yell to the pilot… When he found out there was no one in there. "What the…"

_Wel__come aboard the Quinjet number 57. We ask you to sit down and strap on your seatbelt._ Naruto blinked and then shrugged his shoulders. If something like Nimrod existed, he guessed that it couldn't be that strange to have completely automated jets. He sat down, put his bag under his seat and strapped on his belt. _Destination: Stark Tower. Elapsed flight time: 20 minutes._

"Just twenty minutes? Fa… Woah." Suddenly, the cockpit's front shield cleared… And he came face to face with the clear sky, passing by very, very fast. "Woah… Whoever built this thing, it's a real genius, hn?" Somewhere, Tony Stark didn't sneeze. Geniuses didn't sneeze. But his nose itched. Not that he was going to scratch it.

--

"So? How is he doing, Tony?" That somewhere was one of the floors of Stark Tower, in one of Tony's personal labs. He had asked for Reed's help with the analysis on the blonde teen's DNA… And other things. Now they were observing his behaviour in an unknown habitat… That was, the inside of the quinjet. Reed asked the question. Tony couldn't help but chuckle.

"He found out of to play online games. Seems he likes Warcraft." He pressed another button and told the quinjet's computer to record his play session. It's incredible how much you can tell about a person from how they play an on-line game. "Before that, he made a tour around the jet, a stop in the bathroom and made a joke about being the comfiest high-mile club location he had ever seen. Right after, he realized that it was the first airplane bathroom he had ever seen, and cursed Emma Frost."

"Fascinating… Ah, will…"

"Yes, Reed. You will be able to get a hold of his feces." _I can't believe I just said that out loud…_

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"Take that! Ah! Warlock my ass! Rogue is the best!"

_We're currently in sight of the Stark Tower Complex. Please prepare for landing._

"Uh? Sorry, noobs. I will kick your ass some other day." Naruto closed the game and then stood up to get a better visual of the 'complex'. They were like, three towers one near the other. The tallest one was the central one… "Wow… Pretty tall…"

_Located in the vicinity of Manhattan's Columbus Circle approximately 10 blocks north of the Baxter Building, headquarters of the superhero team the Fantastic Four, t__he complex is named after its owner Tony Stark. The structure is composed of a 93-story Main Tower flanked by a 35-story South Building and 55-story North Building. The top three floors of the building are the location for the headquarters of the local super-hero team the Avengers._

"Hmmm… Thanks for the information, quinny." Naruto kept on taking in the sight of the big complex. He then noticed that the top of the tower didn't really got with the rest of the place's architecture. All sharp, round and black… What was that? No matter. He was more focused on the fact that the jet was landing and that part of the building's roof was opening under it. Like the Xavier's basketball field, he thought.

Then, the cockpit's window started to close further the more they approached the landing place for the jet, just beside the black building over the building. A bit redundant. He grabbed his back and walked to the door of the thing, and from the now distorted noise, he could tell he was inside the thing. Suddenly, the quinjet softly landed. Very few vibrations. Naruto remembered about the New X-Men's landing in Dallas. "Wish we had had an autopilot…" The engines slowly started to go down, and when they died completely, the door started to open in front of him. He walked down the ladder… And he blinked when he found himself face to face with three people in a lab coat and a squad of people armed with guns. He stuck his head out and moved it from side to side a couple of times, before turning it again to face the three lab-coated people. "Ehm… Mutant paranoia much?"

"No. Just caution. Step out of the jet and walk forward, Mr Uzumaki." Naruto shrugged and did so. He stepped out of the jet and walked forward, the ladder of the jet closing behind him. He slowly walked forward, till he came face to face with the three 'scientists'. Strange how just one of them gave off the scientist vibe. The one who extended his hand for him to shake looked like… He didn't know what. Something un-scientist like. "I'm Tony Stark, Iron-Man. It's a pleasure."

"Ah. So you're the big guy who wanted me here. My pleasure." Naruto extended his own hand and shook. And he almost winched. The guy had a nice grip. Well, when you have to walk around in a metallic armor most of the time, you have to work out. Tony then moved his other hand to his left side, to point at his colleagues.

"These are Hank Pym alias Yellow Jacket…" Hank raised a hand in sign of 'Hi'. "And Reed Richards, alias Mister Fantastic, leader of the Fantastic Four."

"Ah, the ones who live 10 blocks south of here?" That made the three men blink. Naruto suddenly felt stupid. "Ehm…The Quinjet was very detailing." That made the three super-heroes express that they found him funny in different ways, chuckling, smiling, shake of the head with a smile.

"I guess if you didn't know Captain America, you couldn't know us. Let's just say we're a peculiar super-team, as in, it's made up of just me, my best friend, my lovely wife and his brother." Reed stretched his arm and hand. Naruto simply shook it. "I see that you've got used to super-powered individuals easily. Most people tend to be a bit… Surprised, the first time they see me using my powers."

"At least to people able to stretch their bodies. A girl has been giving me lot of lessons on that…" Then, he realized he really shouldn't talk about his private life to complete strangers. He shook his head yet again. "Ehm, mind if we walk out of here and talk in a more normal environment? I think I'm just making a fool out of myself, here."

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"… And I don't think I'll fare any better, here."

"Don't worry, Mr Uzumaki. We're used to deal with people who don't even understand what the red light means." And the red light meant danger. Naruto had been brought into the main lab of the Stark Tower. If just talking to them made him feel out of place, figures being in a place full of machines that he didn't know if they were like for analysis, calculations of playing Pang. Right after entering the place, a bald man with glasses took his luggage and his jacket to take it to his 'quarters' for the time being. "So… I guess you're as anxious as us to start these tests."

"One thing, first. Call me Militia or just Naruto. I feel weird being called Mr." Replied Naruto to Reed's words. The man nodded in acknowledgement. The blonde then punched his right open palm, grinning. "Said that… I sure am. I'm kinda curious about what I am. What if I can get some more cool powers? That and… Going back home."

"Understood. Then, for starters…" Tony put a hand on his left shoulder and showed him a liquid-filled tube. Naruto blinked. "Strip to your underwear and step inside that tube. Don't worry. It's harmless and you will be able to breath."

"What is it for?" Naruto asked, but already started to take off his t-shirt, observing the tube and the transparent liquid.

"Basically, it's a device to make a full body scan." Tony replied, and Naruto just shrugged it off and walked in front of the tube. Reed was operating the main controls of the thing, it seemed, since it was a button he pushed that made the thing empty and then open. Naruto kicked away his last sock and then walked in. Tony nodded to him and then to Reed. Mister Fantastic pushed another button and the thing started getting filled with that same liquid again. Naruto shivered. It was cold. "I know it's cold. Bear with it a little."

"I just... Uh?" Naruto noticed something. He blinked while he observed something into another smaller tube. "… Guys, whatever you're keeping inside that thing, I must tell you. It awfully looks a lot like the dump I took into the quinjet." Tony had to bite his tongue to not laugh.

--

"Spider-Man, Spider-Man… Does whatever a spider can… Damn it. I can't get it out of my head." And that was something bad, for someone who had to focus on watching around to see if there were any criminals going around. Guilty the song and who wrote it. But no matter. He had just finished his last stroll for the day. Incredible how life had become much easier ever since he had joined the Avengers. And of course, the new costume. All the new accessories and protection from bullets. The only problem were some idiots calling him 'Iron-Spider'. He supposed he would have to change to the original colours from now on. "Hmm… There it is. My pretty headquarters. Hop."

Peter did a last flip and landed gracefully on a balcony. He had a few choices, but he chose to land on the balcony of the floor containing the main lab of the Stark Tower. Tony had said something about a guest coming for a check up. And he really hoped for the guy Tony hadn't started practicing proctology. He walked inside the laboratory.

"I understand the need to do analysis under physical strain…" Peter blinked. Once. Twice. Three times. "BUT WHY THE HELL DO I HAVE TO RUN SO FAST?!"

"This way we can also check your physical limits. Endurance, speed… Oh, right." Reed pressed a button and the machinery upon which Naruto was running sped up, forcing him too to speed up. "I was almost forgetting to up the speed."

"I'LL PUNCH YOU IN THE GROIN FOR THIS!" Peter removed with a thought the upper part of his costume and approached Tony, who was busy analyzing the results of the first tests.

"Yo, boss. What is the steroid-madrox boy doing here, running like there was a horny Hulk after his ass?" He then moved his head forward and observed the datas Tony was analyzing on the computer screen. He blinked. "Are you serious?"

"The computer doesn't lie, Peter. The boy really is a wonder." The two 'technocrats' turned their heads simultaneously towards the cursing blonde, who had been on the running machine for about an hour and was just now starting to sweat. "His physique has been trained since a young age, it seems. And there's some kind of irregular process going on in his body. 40 percent of it has already undergone it, making those parts stronger and more resistant. I say that by the time his whole body undergoes the transformation, he will reach Cap's level of strength."

"The pinnacle of human abilities. Nice…" Peter kept on reading the data along with Tony. And he noticed almost immediately the 'supernatural note'. "Past supernatural activity. And used often as well, it says."

"It seems like…" This time it was Hank who talked. "He has the ability to drawn upon an unknown source of arcane power. We have found traces of it in all the cells, but in the 'upgraded' ones it's… Let's say there are permanent traces of it. So, I guess the reason of his body's upgrading is this arcane power."

"Wolverine said something about him having a healing factor, if I recall." While they were helping with Stamford's emergency. Last time Peter and the crazy Canadian talked. A note. It was surprising how Jarvis always left around hot beverages in the right places. He took a sip of his chai tea before talking again. "Maybe the reason the 'upgrade' is irregular is because it's triggered by his healing factor."

"…" Tony turned to Peter and chuckled. "It's times like these that remind me that you're on my pay-check for your brain other than the fact that you can lift 10 tons."

"Spider-Man, Spider-Man. Does whatever… Damn it."

"ARGH!" Seems like the speed of the machine finally surpassed Naruto's one, since he got propelled back towards the wall on the other end of the room.

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"…" Laura had been doing nothing but sit in the shade of a tree in the courtyard and stare at her newest possession all day. Naruto's action had taken her completely by surprise. She would have expected him to entrust it to Cessily… Not her. They weren't that close… Were they? She sighed. She didn't understand what was going on with her and Naruto… Why she was treating her nicely, why she was acting in ways unusual to her… Why she was… She didn't even know how to describe it. She just…

"Tell me… Is that a genuine emotion?" But of course, there were people who didn't like that she was settling down in that place. That didn't want them around. Mainly, one person. Emma Frost. "Or just something your masters programmed into you?"

"Get out of my mind." She just replied, and let go of the necklace, letting it fall against her solar plexus again.

"I'm not in it. I don't need to be." She walked to her just as Laura stood back up. "You've been hanging around Militia ever since he defended you from me."

"Please, stop." It was incredible. Laura's level of auto-control. Every other person would have already snapped and attacked Emma again. One name all over the others.

"You think I hate you, but I don't. In many ways, we are the same." It was difficult to believe it, with all the psychological and not warfare the white queen was making against her. "I, too, have done horrible things in my life. I've hurt good people. Destroyed minds." Laura's punch was so tight that she almost drew blood from her grip on her own skin. "Killed those I once loved… My own sister. I understand evil and death, just as you do."

"…" She would have wanted nothing else but for her to shut up. Instinctively… She brought a hand to the necklace. Like it could summon him instantly there, to defend her from those words. From those truths that hurt her so much.

"But the difference between us is that my actions were by my own choice." That made her raise her head to stare back at her. "You don't have a choice. With a single drop of that chemical… That 'trigger'… You lose control to your masters and kill whomever they choose." Her head dropped again, her face saddened. But she still held onto the necklace. "If you care for Naruto, then you will leave him. Leave this school now, before it's too late and you lose that tiny bit of affection he has for you. Not that it will ever be as big you want." She almost chocked on her own breath at that, and gripped hard the necklace, raising her head back in a flash.

"W-What are you saying?" She stuttered. She had never done that in her past. But when it came to that stupid grin… She found herself doing that a lot.

"It's clear. Your relationship will never go past this point. Otherwise… How do you explain that you're not as intimate as he is with Cessily?" At those words, Laura's eyes were cast downwards again, and her grip on the necklace strengthened so much that her hand trembled. "How do you explain that you just shared a single kiss while…"

"How can you say that?!" The conversation was interrupted by one of the subjects of Emma's words. The only one with red hair. "She save us! All of us!"

"Cessily…" Emma tried to say something, but Mercury interrupted her once again.

"No! You abandon Kevin, you humiliate Julian, you set a whole room on Naruto, and now you want Laura to leave?! What is the matter with you?!" She wasn't willing to put up with her 'teacher's' behaviour anymore. Not after all the crap they had been going through. "She nearly died saving our lives… She would have, if not for Julian and Naruto!" She still hadn't asked him what he needed that teleporter for. "This is how you treat her?!"

"There are things you don't know, Cessily…" Laura didn't wait for the conversation to finish. She just started to storm away from the courtyard. "I'm doing this to protect you."

"I don't care!" Cessily shouted one more time before hurrying after Laura. She stopped just a split second, just to deliver the final blow. "I've found out more than enough about how you 'protect' your students, miss Frost." A good thing she had erased their presence from everyone that was around. Emma muttered a silent 'dammit'.

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"…" She opened her eyes. She found her eyelids so heavy… So difficult… But… She did, in the end. The artificial lights of the infirmary were so strong… "… What…" She turned to see why she couldn't lift her arm… And gasped when she saw that her arm was strapped down… But worse of all… The bandages were covering it all the way to her shoulder. "The…" Then, she remembered. The shot, the blood, her losing consciousness… Her eyes saddened. Then, she remembered that she hadn't been the first one to be shot.

"Good to see you're finally awake, Wallflower." Laurie turned her face to meet every X-Men's favourite furry doctor, Hank McCoy, smiling at her. "How are you feeling?"

"Good, but… What about Naruto?! He got shot in the back of the head! He…" The pawish hand silenced her.

"A lot has happened while you were asleep, Laurie. Don't worry, he's safe." Henry's words were enough for her. She relaxed… And she shifted her gaze to her arm again. The Beast's gaze saddened at that. "The projectile was… Explosive."

"… I figured as much…" She tried to move it against the restraints… It wasn't like she lacked just the strength. It was like she couldn't put pressure on it. Her shoulder… "It's… Pretty much an useless arm now, right?"

"Pretty much. It will not affect your mutant abilities, but… Everything else…" Henry saw her getting sadder by the minute. He decided to just get it over with. "Basically, it would be preferable that you get it… Replaced."

"Replaced?" She moved her head to stare at Henry yet again. "You mean like… A prosthesis?" Henry nodded in reply.

"Yes. An artificial arm. It would work as and even better than your original one, but… The point is…" Henry shut up. He realized he didn't need to say more. Laurie had already understood. To make place for the prosthesis, they would have to cut off what was left of her arm. Something like that was ugly even just to think about it… "Your mother said that you would decide on your own, that you were strong and responsible enough. The choice is up to you."

"…" Laurie began to think about it. Cutting off her own arm, such a decision… But, after all, not so much. It was an useless appendage. And another matter… Maybe it could be a little help. Ever since Josh had hurt her the first time, she had wanted to become stronger. But it seemed like she had returned to being weak again. The proof was that Cessily had probably asked Naruto to follow her around because they were afraid of Josh getting violent again and her not being able to defend herself. Too scared, too sad to even use her powers… And she felt like they were right. So, it really wasn't a question. "… Can I get a rocket launcher into it?"

"…" Henry smirked. "With the next one." Laurie blinked. Next one? Henry adjusted his glasses. "You see, after a bit of a predicament about four days ago, Forge has decided to stay here for a while. In these four days, he has heard of your predicament… And he has started working on a bionic arm just in case." Henry showed her a picture. It was a fine piece of technology, no doubt. It looked like a true arm, if it wasn't for the attachments and the fact that it was striped, like it was made of various pieces. "As soon as you are ready, we can work on removing your ruined arm and attack the connecting dev…"

"Tonight." Henry blinked. Laurie had just said… "I mean… Is it too soon?"

"… Ehm… No. Not at all. I'll contact Forge."

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"Just these 20? No proctology exam?"

"Peter, that joke was not funny before you even told it. And this is the fourth time."

"And you've freaked me out enough, thank you." Naruto had finally been able to put his clothes back on. Incredible. They had worked non-stop from the morning. Tens of tests. They hadn't even stop to have lunch. When he voiced his complaint, they stuck a tube in his arm and called it a day. And then there were Peter's spidey jokes. It was nice meeting officially another superhero, but he didn't think that awful jokes were a superpower. "Honestly, what…" Red light. That lightened the entire laboratory. Naruto moved his head from side to side, while Peter just simply received a communication on his suit.

"Seems like we got trouble of the Doombot kind, boss." He said.

"Again? We had one just the last week…" Tony started to take off his lab coat. Hank and Reed did the same. "We need to call the other Avengers. And I need to get in my armour. Peter, go on ahead."

"On it, boss."

"Hey, is it something I can help with?" The four registered heroes turned to Naruto as a single man. Tony began to think about it. He could be useful for crowd control. And in the worst situation, he could just swarm the robot with copies, right?

"…" He turned to Peter. "Peter, how do you feel about piggy-back?" Spider-Man just groaned.

"Just my perfect day…"

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"How is that thing called?"

"Doom-Bot. And not because it's an enormous metallic giant of doom." Peter was really something, on the webs. Naruto had almost lost his lunch with two of the acrobatic jumps he had done. But there they were. A Doom-Bot laying waste to a street of New York and the surroundings. Peter did another flip and landed on a traffic light, Naruto on his back.

"So, can you take out that thing alone?" Asked the blonde while getting down from Peter's back, and landing on the ground.

"Yes. But it could take a bit of time. And we have to protect the people and make sure the property damage is to a minim…" Suddenly a loud 'Poof' let himself heard and Peter blinked under his mask. He turned to the ground… And saw it swarming with Naruto.

"Alright, guys! You 300 take care of the people!" He raised his head and smiled to peter. "This should give us space to focus on the big fellow."

"I wish I could do that too. Can you imagine JJJ's face when he sees the city swarming with Spider-Men?" Peter flicked his wrist and 'twipped' alive a web. He swung towards the robot leaving Naruto frowning on the ground.

"Oh, right. Leave the not swinging guy here." Naruto turned two of his bracelets and jumped forward in a burst of red light. Just as Spider-Man swung right in front of the robot's face.

"Hey, can you see my house from here? I got lost on the way back from grandma's house." The robot swung one of his gigantic arms at him. Spidey pulled himself up with the web and swung another one so that he could head for the robot's chest. He landed on it. "Hey! How dare you interrupt my daily joke with elements from fairy tales? Now I'm mad! And you don't get a tecchie mad!" The robot tried to pry him off, but Spidey just did another jump and landed on its face, and then did another jump while spraying the robot's eyes with web. "Especially when he knows that his web can disturb your visual sensors like you really had eyes." He landed on the back of his neck and proceeded to observe the uncovered parts of the robot, trying to find a funny little cable to pull and put the bot out of commission. "Now blue and red? I'll have to improvise, then… Uh?" Suddenly, Spider-Man shot his glance down, hearing something like a wind and a 'ween' noise coming from down… And he blanked.

"Good trick! But can you do something like this?" Naruto was charging a Kyuubi Rasengan and was about to struck the robot's legs with it… When he got pulled away by a couple of webs, courtesy of a landing Spider-Man. "H-Hey!"

"And here I thought they were wrong on blondes." Peter pulled him with force to dodge the foot-counter of the robot, who had just discovered that he could pull away the web. Naruto dispelled the Rasengan and got back on his feet.

"What is wrong with you?! I was about to…"

"Hit him on the feet, making him stumble and fall on one of the surrounding buildings, that are full of people." Naruto blinked. He looked around, observing around him… Yes. There were people inside the buildings. They were escaping, stumbling, but still in there. He… He turned to Peter again. And he could feel his admonishing gaze even from under the mask. "You're a ninja, some kind of assassin, right? Well, being a super-hero isn't about defeating your enemy only." He helped him back on his feet and made him turn to the robot again, but making sure he could focus on the other things around. Screams, sounds of the police's cars coming in… "Being a superhero is about protecting people, mainly. We have that responsibility."

"…" Naruto stared at the robot, who had turned towards them again, staring at it… And then nodded. He understood. They had to defeat him without harming other people. They had to improvise… And Naruto had an idea. "Hey, what's his weak point? Like, something that has to be destroyed to make him shut down?" They dodged a 'green ray of doom' from the robot's eyes. It was best to engage him close, it seemed. They began to head for it again.

"There's his… Let's say his brain, in his head. But that's where the heaviest protection is. A hard nut to crack." Said Peter. Naruto nodded.

"I think I can take him down in one blow, then." Naruto somersaulted and dodge a stomp from the robot's foot. Peter swung by his side.

"What's your plan?"

"Well…"

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"… Tony, where were you keeping this kid?"

"He's a student at the Xavier's. So, basically, I wasn't keeping him anywhere." Tony could understand She-Hulk's surprise, though. What the boy had done had impressed him too. And had impressed the press and the audience as well, judging from how they swarmed on him.

Basically, the rest of the Avengers had arrived just in time to see the amusing scene. Spider-Man giving Naruto a 'lift', as in, using a web to swing as high as he could above the robot and letting the blonde go. Then… Tony's body scanners began to receive signs that indicated the beginning of arcane activity. His zooming on Naruto showed him that both of the teen's hands were covered in red energy, joined together in a sledgehammer. But what happened later was really surprising.

The red energy covering Naruto's hands had the shape of the said parts of his body. But what he didn't expect was for the red energy to get bigger and bigger, bigger than the robot's head, still retaining the hand's shape. And it was nothing less but spectacular when Naruto crushed the robot's head with the hit, combining the power of the blow with gravity and the resistance of the red energy. Maybe it was psionic? Well, what was more pressing at the moment was that the Avengers had basically just looked while he stopped the Doombot on his own. Not really a big accomplishment, but he had done it in a single blow and without big damage to people and the surrounding structures.

"Hmmm… Seems like while he's used to fighting enemies, he's not used to reporters." Commented Reed, seeing that the poor boy was stuttering like an old Parkinson-ill man to the many questions of the various journalists.

"Are you registered?!"

"Ah, y-yes…"

"Are you a mutant?! We saw you with the X-Men in Stamford!"

"I'm… Yes, kinda…"

"What super-powers do you possess?!"

"Well, not…"

"Hey, hey, hey." Salvation came in the shape of Spider-Man, who approached him and put an arm around his shoulder. "Let the boy breath. Or I'll web you. Twip-Twip."

"Our young hero is not used to cameras, good people." Tony decided to lend a hand too. He used his arms to make sign to the crowd to calm down a little. "This was his first public act. But as you can see, he has done his job with care, precision and perfect control of the damage." Naruto and Peter exchanged a glance: 'I won't tell you if you don't'. "His copies have been useful to evacuate the area and he took down the Doombot in one blow."

"Where did you learn to fight this way?" Asked one of the reporters.

"I…" Then, suddenly, Naruto had some insight. He knew what to say, suddenly. He smiled. "At the Xavier's Institute for Higher Learning."

"Enough questions. This young one is just a guest, not a new member of the Avengers. But I assure you that he's under registrations and well trained. Maybe later he will allow himself to be questioned, but now he needs to go back to his other duties."

Naruto rolled his eyes. _Yeah… Being your guinea pig._

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"Move."

"Okay!"

"We're moving!"

"Laura, will you wait up?!" Seems like nothing could stop the girl's march for the main door. Not even other people. Just a word, and they obeyed to what she said. Laura had to get creative. Lengthening her legs to cover more space with each leg, for example. In the end, she managed to put herself between her and a door, in front of Laura. "Stop! Look… I heard how horrible miss Frost was, but you have to know that we don't want you to leave…"

"… It doesn't matter." Laura stopped to reply to Cessily, still keeping her gaze downcast. "She's right."

"No, she's not! All those things she said… I didn't mean to overhear, but…" Cessily thought about it. She calmed down and breathed in and out deeply. "What I mean is, if you really were sure that she was right about everything she said, you would have got rid of the necklace Naruto gave you already, right?"

"… I…" Laura gaze at said object… And found out, indeed, that she didn't agree... But she didn't know how to reply. "I… I'll wait for him to come back and then… I'll go away?" Cess rolled her eyes.

"Yes. Because Naruto is soooo going to let you go away." She crossed her arms and observed Laura's face, now confused. "I think he would first lock you in the danger room and then go and punch miss Frost in the face till she gets a concussion. Diamond form be damned."

"… Still…" Laura picked up the necklace and stared at it yet again. Cessily sighed. She understood her concerns. To tell the truth, Naruto's behaviour confused her too. She put a hand on Laura's left shoulder.

"I think we need to talk to figure out this big mystery that is Naruto Uzumaki. What about a coffee in town?"

"Whoah, can we do that now?" Cessily's head suddenly decided that gravity was a bit stronger than usual. It happened, with Santo around. "I thought we couldn't leave! Is that new? I want to go, too!"

"No!" Cessily started to push Laura towards the dormitory. "Come on, Laura!"

"Awww. Hulk sad."

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"Ehm… I don't think that making it pink…"

"Why? I love pink." Henry rolled his eyes… But he was grateful that Laurie was taking it better than what he expected her to. After deciding that he would take the surgery and replace her ruined arm with an artificial one, she asked Henry to help her go through a list of possible 'accessories' to include in the next arm Forge would make for her. Some of her suggestions were ingenious, others came right from her teen heart. Like wanting to make it pink.

"Still…"

"Doctor McCoy… Oh." The conversation was interrupted by a new arrival in the room. Josh Foley, alias Elixir. He stopped when he noticed that Laurie was finally awake. He scratched the back of his head.

"Josh. You wanted something?"

"Yes. I wanted to talk to you about something…" Josh lowered his gaze. "But… I would like to talk to Laurie first. Could you…"

"Of course. I'll wait outside. We'll resume our talk later, Laurie."

"Of course, mister McCoy." The Beast smiled and walked out of the infirmary, leaving the two blondes alone. Josh sighed and slowly sat down. They stayed in silent. Each one preferring the other to talk first. But Laurie decided to break that routine. "You seem a lot calmer than what I remembered…"

"It happens, when you kill one of your race's worst enemies and people make you understand that my powers aren't for causing instant cancer." Laurie yucked at that. That didn't sound right. Figures seeing it. Josh then raised his head again. "About your arm. If you wait like an hour…"

"It's okay. I've already decided to replace it." Said Laurie, shaking her head. "Let's say that it's… A way of cutting my ties with my past self."

"… Cutting ties…" Josh shifted his gaze to the side. "You know… I kinda wanted to do it as well…" Laurie kept her silence and stared at Josh, waiting for him to explain himself better. "You know… What kept on going on in my mind during these days?" He straightened his head and shifted his gaze to her face again. "That if you didn't make it… Your last memory would have been of me yelling at you and being mean and rude… Just because you wanted to be close to me."

"…" Laurie kept her cool. She didn't say anything. Nothing to say, nothing to object to what he was saying.

"And… I've already hurt you once, Laurie. You… You don't deserve this. You've been through too much already. And…"

"I agree." That took Josh by surprise. He was expecting her to get sad, break down a little… Not say 'I agree'. She smiled sadly, though. "I've been through too much because of you… I don't blame you. You've been going through much as well, but… I think I've had enough, you know?"

"…" Josh smiled sadly as well. "I know too well for my own good."

"Like… New arm, new life." She moved her good arm and made Josh lean towards her. She kissed him on the forehead and smiled again. "I'll see you around, alright?"

"… Alright." Josh smiled back and got up from the chair he was sitting on. While he walked out of the door, he thought… _Well… That went much better than what I thought._ He then turned to the blue-furred mutant he was searching. "Ah, doctor McCoy."

"I was expecting to hear some screams at least, but… I'm happy you broke up on good terms." At Josh's blinking face, Henry just chuckled. "Now how can I help you, mister Foley?"

_Laurie turned a new leaf? So did I._ "I want to learn everything there is to know about human anatomy, biology, and physiology. Everything."

"Oh. Well…" The beast was at a loss for words for real… And on top of that, that could be useful for Laurie too. He cleared his voice. "Well, I suppose that you'd like to study and learn for yourself, but… Would you mind if we sped the process up telepathically?" Josh blinked. For two reasons. First, because he had no intention of studying for the next thousand years. Second, because the beast had just suggested the wanted solution. "You see, miss Collins is… Impatient of taking the surgery. And while the surgery would take two hours, max, rehabilitation and adaptation to her new condition would take a lot more… But, if you had that knowledge that you're asking for, with your powers… Well, she could be out of bed and the infirmary tomorrow morning."

"…" Josh couldn't believe what he was hearing. Not only he was getting was he wanted… But the Beast was actually giving him the opportunity to be cool and tragic about it. He sighed. "I'd liked to indulge myself in the nectar of study… But… For the greater good, I'll take the easy way out." Evil Josh said: _Sucker._

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"So, like, your power is to make suns explode?"

"No… It's…" Naruto had joined the avengers for dinner. And that included the Sentry. And the last five minutes had been going through roast-beef and trying to make Naruto understand what 'the power of a million exploding suns' meant. Robert Reynolds sighed while She-Hulk laughed. "I… I am a million exploding suns."

"Ahhh… Like, you have the energy of a million exploding suns…" Naruto said rolling his eyes… Then he blinked and turned to Peter. "That's a lot, right?" Spider-Man snorted and almost chocked on his food.

"Please, stop trying to kill us with laughs, Naruto." Joked Tony, observing Peter struggling to reach water. "You said you're a ninja… Aren't you supposed to be stealthy? Maybe a bit emo as well…"

"That's Sasuke. Not me. But…" Naruto scratched the top of his head. "Let's just say that we're a bit different from what you think. We're mercenaries, yes, but we don't do assassinations only. Depending from the skill, we do everything. From babysitting to open warfare."

"Really? Sending young people like you…" Said Reed. He had decided to join them as well, since things at home were a little chaotic. Naruto shook his head.

"It's not like anyone can become a ninja. Those who want to become one have to train since young age and then take an exam." Then, Naruto's face was cast downwards. "I had to take it three times myself, to pass…"

"… I understand. No training and exam, no being a ninja." Peter smiled. "That sounds a lot like what we're doing, you know." Naruto blinked at that.

"You mean… This super-registration act thing?" Tony nodded.

"Yes." He gulped down the last glass of alcohol he was permitted to drink for the day. "We want to make so that all new and old superheroes are trained and fully aware of the risks they put themselves and other people into."

"Well, that is perfectly reasonable, I think." Naruto blinked. "Did I just say reasonable? Wow. But, I mean, why do some people oppose the act, then? I mean… This is something a fan of mine asked… If you fight each other, who fights the bad guys?"

"The thing is…" Peter decided to explain it himself. "To join the registration act, it means to expose your secret identity. To be controlled. And there are some people who don't like that."

"Exactly." Tony nodded, approving of Peter's explanation. "But mostly… It's fear of the change. Every night I pray and hope that these people, our friends, can overcome that fear and see that what we're doing is the right thing…" He felt like he really needed another glass of wine, but he had learned long ago to fight against it. "But till that day… We have to fight them and the bad guys at the same time."

"…" Naruto frowned. "Man, what they're doing is so dumb…" That earned a smile from the eldest people at the table… Suddenly, Tony's suit began to bip. His cellphone.

"Excuse me for one moment." Too bad that Tony decided to get up from the table right at that moment. He lost She-Hulk teasing Naruto and enjoying it immensely when he blushed as a tomato. But he was expecting that call. He walked out on the balcony.

"_I suppose you have already transferred the data I asked of you, Stark."_

"Of course. A deal is a deal, after all. I thank you for your assistance." He replied.

"_I must compliment you, Stark, though. I always thought of you as one of the many, but I can see now that you're starting to act like a true leader. Making the right decisions for the right reasons. Overcoming petty things like morals."_

"Your approval feels me with shame…" And that wasn't a joke. There was Victor Von Doom on the other side of the phone. He received a 'Hmph' as a reply.

"_I'm sure it d__oes… Now. Nonetheless, remember that I'm always available for other rewarding agreements like this one."_ Doom closed the call and Tony put the phone back into his right pocket. Rewarding agreement indeed. A Doombot for part of the plans of the containment prisons in the Negative zone. That they were going to modify just a little right away.

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"Why do you order a drink? You do not need to drink or eat."

"How do you know?" Cessily blinked. How did she found out? She was that observant? She shrugged. "It doesn't matter. I just like to hold it. Makes me feel human." Saying that, she took hold of the cup, enjoying its warmth in her hands. "Makes people feel more comfortable around me. It may not look like it, but I'm one of the least human students here."

"None of us are human." Simply replied Laura.

"I know…" The redhead took her time to observe the coffee in the cup, watching it move and shift. A bit like her. "But I like to look human. Do human things."

"Naruto doesn't seem to care much." Stated Laura again, this time with a lower tone than before. Cessily blushed.

"He doesn't care at all, actually." She shook her head. Bad images. Bad images. "So… What were you upset about? About Naruto not…" She blushed even more. The images being back. "Being… Intimate with you?"

"… More or less. It's just…" She sighed. "It's… It's the first time I feel like this. And I don't even act accordingly, I suppose. Like, letting my… Rival cheering me up." Cessily groaned.

"Is there anything that goes by the rules when Naruto is around? Like…" She blinked. "What did you just say?"

"That I don't…"

"Before that." Interrupted Cessily.

"That it's the first time I feel like this." Cessily snapped her fingers. Mystery solved.

"Then, there's no much mystery about that. It's easy, knowing how Naruto is." Laura still couldn't understand. "You see, Naruto isn't a player or anything. He's very sweet and… Skilled… But he doesn't have that kind of charm. It has always been me the one who initiates our… Sessions."

"You've been working on making more parts of your body coloured." At that comment, Cess' whole face became red.

"Thaaaanks… The point is, Naruto understood that this is the first time that someone has been that nice to you. And he doesn't want you to rush things through. Like, mistaking gratefulness and friendship for infatuation. That's why he acts differently with you." Laura blinked. He didn't want her… She found her mouth changing in the shape of a smile. Seeing this, Cessily found herself smiling too. "Ah, now that's better. I'm almost envious, since that means he's been a lot more considerate and careful towards you than me…"

"… But you kissed him a lot more than me." Mercury chuckled.

"If you really want to do it that badly, just wait for him to come back to his room and tackle him to the floor the moment he steps inside." Cessily chuckled some more… And then sweatdropped when she saw Laura putting up a contemplative look. Like going through a plan. And she paled when she saw her use what tools she had on the table to make up a diorama of Naruto's room. _Don't tell me she's really going to do it…_

"Should I tie him to his…" She didn't ask that question as a joke. She was serious. But something else caught her attention. She got up from her seat in a flash, looking around worriedly.

"Laura?" Asked Cessily, noticing her sudden uneasiness.

"Get out." She said. Cessily blinked.

"What? What's wrong? I mean, if you want to, tie…" She was interrupted by Laura pushing her towards the door.

"Get out of here! Now!" The clawed mutant then shifted her attention to the other occupants of the café. "All of you! Run!"

"Laura, what's wrong?!" Cessily was sincerely confused. What had gotten into Laura all of a sudden.

"You have to go!" Her voice was deadly serious. She wasn't joking. "They're not here for you, they're here for me. They're here to take me ba-"

Laura's speech was interrupted by an explosion. The same explosion that destroyed the café in which they had been having a nice friendly conversation, for a change, in her life.

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"Alright… If everyone's here, we're ready to begin." Said Henry, observing the room and their occupants. Himself, Forge, Emma, Elixir and the cuckoos. Emma and the cuckoos were going to handle using the tools, since his hands now lacked the precision needed to use a scalpel. They also would telepathically coordinate the operation. Henry would not even need to open his mouth to give them their orders. Emma and her clones were just going to implant them into their minds. Forge was going to be needed in the second part of the operation, to install the connecting device in the place of her shoulder. Josh was there for everything else.

"We're ready, doctor McCoy." Josh still couldn't believe how easily it had been… All the information in his head… He was so going to heal David's eyes, later. And maybe treat that nasty cold of Anole. For now, he had to be focused on the narcotized girl on the table that needed his help. He owed her that much, at least. To her and her mother, who was going to observe the whole operation from behind the glasses.

"Ready, mister McCoy." Replied the cuckoos. Forge and Emma just nodded.

"Good." Henry began to 'think'. _Scalpel. Cut…_

_Continue…_

_In the next chapter…_

Cessily gets kidnapped. By people that Laura knows well enough to understand that she's in serious trouble. She decides to go and take her back… And someone tags along. What will the ninja's reaction be? Stay tuned!


	15. Mercury Rising II

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto nor Marvel… MEINOS SMASH.

It took a bit, hn? :) No worries, this story is alive and kicking. It took some time to update because of a few factors, first one being that before publishing a new chapter I have a rule of having the following two ready. Yes, I've already done chapters 14 and 15, but you'll have to wait till I finish 16 to get the next one. :P That, and my beta disappeared. O_O Well, enjoy!

**No Reading**

**Chapter13: Bonnie, Clyde and Louise**

"Uhhh…" The explosion had destroyed the facility and probably killed everyone but her and Laura. The clawed mutant had her healing factor and she… Well, she couldn't be killed that easily. "Laura… Oh, god…" She looked around. Everything was on fire. And she saw bodies among the wreckage. "What happened?" Then, she saw them. Shadows in the flames, walking among them with… Rifles? They were holding rifles… "Laura?" Snikt.

"Get out of here, Cessily!" Laura emerged from the flames with all her claws out, and started doing what she did better. Fighting, killing. Fighting those men who had blown out that place, taking two of the down on the first somersault. "Run!" Cessily was petrified, at first. She stared and stared… Till she saw more soldiers coming to attack Laura.

"No!" She acted. She extended her body and her hands and slapped a soldier into unconsciousness. She then shifted till she was back to back with the black-haired girl. "We have to get out of here! We have to get back to the institute!"

"Get out of here!" Laura was adamant in not involving Cessily in the fight, though.

"What?!" Cessily was adamant on staying behind and help, instead. "I'm not going to just leave you here!" Then, someone shot Laura with another kind of weapon. Bullets were almost useless against her. She regenerated holes almost immediately. Crossbow bolts were a bit more of a pain to pull out.

"Uhn!"

"Laura!" Two crossbows hit her in the left arm and in the right shoulder. Cessily was immediately by her side.

"Well, look at this… Out for a little girl-talk?" The two girl's gaze moved to the newest voice among the rubble. A woman wielding the crossbow that had just been used to shot at Laura and another weapon. Some kind of rifle. And that mocking smile on her face. "Hi, X. Miss me?"

"Run, Cessily." She was repeating herself a lot, it seemed. Laura then began to talk to the newest arrive. Her old 'caretaker'. "She has nothing to do with this, Kimura."

"Where did you learn such nobility? I don't remember you taking that class at the facility." Kimura's reply was just keeping her mocking smile and adding her words to the mix. "But arrogance always was your problem, wasn't it, clone?" Then, the woman moved the other weapon from her shoulder and aimed. "We didn't come for you." She shot. And indeed, they hadn't come for her. The woman hadn't aimed the shot at her. The shocking dart hit Cessily square in the chest.

"Aaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhh!" The dart wasn't to kill her. It had the effect of making her unfocused… Nauseous… Unable to react.

"Cessily!" Laura was about to help her, to remove that dart… When another bolt hit her square in her throat. "Hhk!"

"Get Kincaid and load her into the containment unit. I'll handle the clone." Kimura ordered. But it seemed like one of her collaborators wanted a raise or something. While his colleagues walked to Cessily and surrounded her, this one walked to Laura with a smirk on his face, aiming his rifle to her head.

"You're dead." In reply, Laura pulled out the bolt from her throat and stuck it in his own one. "Huk!" She then took a hold of his rifle and started firing, aiming at the soldiers who were surrounding Cessily. But before she could take out all of them, Kimura simple stepped in the way of the fire and took all the bullets like she was being splashed with water.

"Stop screwing around!" She said a bit more forcefully to her subordinates. She then turned to Laura again, smiling. "I said get the girl in the van!" Snikt again. Laura threw away the rifle and unsheathed her claws, charging Kimura head on. "Stupid girl!" Kimura side-stepped and pushed her attacker to the ground, hard. "After what you did in San Francisco, you're lucky I don't reach through your skull and pull out your brain." She then simply sat on top of Laura, blocking her to the ground. Laura reacted, slashing fiercely at her. But all that managed to do was rip away parts of her clothing.

"Oh, come on!" The clone never ceased to amuse her. "How many times do you have to try that before you give it up?" Laura seemed deaf. She just kept on slashing at her chest and abdomen. Kimura just laughed. "You're going to have to do better than that."

"So are you." She didn't expect that answer. She then noticed that one of the swipes… Had removed the ring from one of the grenades she kept attached to her belt.

"You little…" Can anyone say chain-explosion? The grenades detonated all together. But due to the closeness, Laura was damaged as well and thrown away. But the total damage was the same. While Laura had the healing factor, Kimura didn't, even if she was more resistant to damage. The clone was quick back on her feet, staring at Kimura, who was wincing in pain for the burns. "Uuuuh… I hate you, clone."

"Kimura, we're green!" Said one of her subordinates. And she suddenly received a radio communication from the doctor.

"_Kimura, do you have Kincaid?"_

"She's on board…" She replied by pressing an invisible button near her right cheek. "I'm dealing with X-23…"

"_Forget her. We need the girl here now."_ The emphasis on 'now' made her understand that games were over. She retreated to the van and jumped into it.

"Kimura!" Laura was back to her feet, but she wasn't fast enough to stop the from going away.

"Another time, X. See you soon." And Kimura kept on mocking her… She waved while they went away. Laura gritted her teeth, in pain and frustration.

"KIMURA!" She was so focused on shouting that she didn't notice the side of the building falling upon her till she got hit.

--

"Hmmm… Yawn!" Naruto stretched while the windows of the room automatically opened. He smacked his lips together, and grinned. "If this is a guest room, I wonder about the team members' rooms." Indeed. The bed was enormous, and the room itself was three times the one he had at the Xavier's, with an incredible view of New York City. Not to mention that he thought that a single piece of the furniture of that room could buy his old Konoha apartment. He got down from the bed while a computer voice talked to him.

_Good morning, Militia. It's 7 AM. The outside temperature is 18 Celsius Degrees. Reminders for the day: Shower. Dressing yourself up. Breakfast with Tony Stark and Reed Richards. The analysis' results have been analyzed._ Naruto blinked at that.

"In one night?"

--

"Nnngh…" When she woke up, it was still night. But not for long, it seemed. It was almost dawn… She had lost time. She needed to move out. She needed to go back to the institute and take her stuff. The more time she lost… The harder it would be for her to track them down.

--

"You stayed up all night analyzing the results of my analysis?"

"At first we had not planned so, but at a certain point…" Reed drifted off to silence, focusing back on some of the papers he had on the table.

"That, and there was a call to catch some unregistered heroes. Just Reed stayed up all night, though." Continued Peter. Naruto put some more maple syrup on his pancakes.

"Heroes hunting other heroes…" He swallowed a piece before continuing to talk. "I mean, how does it work? All the registered heroes hunt down the unregistered ones?"

"Just those who want to. That's why I didn't insist further with the X-Men after the first time. Carol's try was out of her own initiative." Tony was reading the newspaper. There was an article about the past night's try of capturing the allies of Cap. It didn't go well, though. It probably had something to do with the fact that they had asked Misty Knight to hunt down Cap. "We can't force anyone to hunt down those who they once considered comrades, allies, friends."

"But you do it… I mean, it must be though…" Replied Naruto… And his mind drifted back to the fact that back in his own world… Or on his own planet, one of the two… He was doing to do the same. He called it 'bringing him back'… But the truth was that he was hunting him down to take him to the village he betrayed against his own will, in hope that he sees the light… So, yeah. He could understand what Tony and the others were going through.

"It's incredible. So many possibilities…" Reed was seriously freaking Naruto out. He was observing the papers he was holding while at the same time having breakfast. Peter and Tony were eating normally.

"Alright, I understand. I'm incredible." Naruto groaned. "But why, exactly?"

"Well… First, we need to explain you a few things." Tony finished eating and wiped his mouth. "The first thing we have found out from the analysis is that… Both your race and the mutants have the same origin."

"As in?" Naruto stuffed his mouth with another pancake.

"Well… An experiment of the Celestials." Naruto blinked. A what? Tony saw his confusion. "To put it in simple ways… The Celestials are a race of incredibly powerful aliens, who have a hobby of… Creating races of experimenting with their genetic code."

"…" Naruto blinked once. Twice. Three times. "Eh?"

"Reed here has developed a particularly powerful energy analysis device. We found out that half of the energy that one of your genes irradiates is fitting the energy of the X-Gene, and as such, they have a common origin. It's that half that gives you the ability to manipulate inner energy and use your 'techniques'." Tony continued his explanation, while Naruto became more and more blank by the second.

"The other half… That's where the interesting part. We can say that the other half of your gene is blank. As in, extremely adaptable." Reed took the explanation in his hands. "You told us that some ninjas in your world have something that you call a 'bloodline' limit, as in, a particular ability compared to normal ones. We believe that one of these BL appears when the blank half of your N-Gene adapts to exposition to a particular environment, or particular kinds of energies, and evolves. When that happens, a unique ability is born. A BL."

"… So… Basically…" Naruto had been exposed to more geniuses in that last two months than his whole life. All the speeches and the strange words have forced him to think so much that his heard hurt… But thanks to that exercise, he was able to understand most of Reed's explanation. "Basically, everyone in my world could develop a bloodline limit with time, if certain conditions are met?"

"Exactly. But there's no manner to foretell which conditions will develop which ability. The possibilities are so many…" Reed was so excited that it was like looking at a child with a new toy. Naruto, himself, was totally stunned. Basically, he had just been told something that the people in his world would have taken maybe centuries to know. And all that he could think about was…

"AH! TAKE THAT, SASUKE! I'M GOING TO DEVELOP A KEKKEI GENKAI TOO, ONE DAY! MWAHAHAHAHAH!" Useless to say that the sudden outburst freaked out the three other occupants of the room… But their attention was suddenly caught by the flash of blue light in the room. They turned around, hearing two new voices in the room… "Uh? What the…"

"Naruto."

--

_An hour ago…_

"Hmm…" Laurie blinked and slowly opened her eyes, seeing that her eyes were exposed to the light of the sun. "Damn… The curtains are opened…" Laurie raised her right hand to shield herself from the sun… She blinked. "Wait a minute. My right…" She sat up in her bed and observed around. She was in her room, in her bed. Not in the infirmary anymore. She then shifted her gaze to her right, useless arm… That was now made out of metal. "Oh my…" She tried to move it. She moved her fingers, rapping them on the side of her bed. She stretched it, she even punched the air, imitating rocky… She felt like squirming. All those week without being able to do that… She looked around. Her mom was at the surgery. Where… Suddenly, she saw a paper on her bedside table. She picked it up and began to read.

Dear Laurie

This is doctor McCoy. Your mother is sleeping in a guest room in the school. She was very tired when the surgery ended. And we are happy to say that it was a complete success. We wanted to make you wake in your room so that you could get acquainted again with the feeling of normality.

Your arm will feel as good as the old one. You'll retain all the sensibility and the sense of touch. But we 'turned off' the pain. It's made of a special alloy. Rust inhibitor, able to sustain a weight of 10 tons but nonetheless not heavier than your original arm. Forge will start working on your personalized one as soon as possible. This one has just three functions, thought for working with your powers.

The first one is an automatic energy field that protects you from most bullets fired from a long distance.

Laurie rolled her eyes. How thoughtful of them to protect her from further assignation attempts. She continued to read.

The second device is a teleporter. It's range is of 100 miles, and it needs 15 minutes to recharge after three consecutive uses or 5 after each one. It has in memory various coordinates. You can ask the inner memory to 'read' you the ones in range whenever it's needed.

"First stop: Wal-Mart." She joked. Then, she read the final part of the letter.

The third and last device is the arm itself. It has a certain grade of super-strength. You can lift up to two tons with it, and apply the same pressure in a grip. Forge hadn't tested him about the strength of a punch, but he says that you should be able to punch through concrete with no trouble, provide the wall is not very thick.

For further details, I invite you to ask Forge himself once you wake up.

"…" Laurie put down the letter and then smiled, observing her new appendage… And then smiled. "Shower, dressing up, then saying hi to the others."

--

_Half an hour ago_

"Hmmm… I didn't think that it's still a bit early for anyone to be up." Laurie had dressed herself up. She had opted for something unusual for her wardrobe. For what she liked to wear, at least. Her only pair of jeans, a top and a blue jacket. Now she was wandering through the corridors of the female dorm… Suddenly, she heard a noise coming from a room. She recognized it. It was the room of Sooraya and her new team-mate. Laura, right? Wolverine's clone. She opened the room in a flash, smiling. Eager to finally talk to someone again. And to show that she could cut her own food again. "Hey, are you awake? I wanted to… …" She froze when she saw that scene. Sooraya didn't wake up. She was sleeping quietly. But the other occupant of the room… "L-Laura?" Said girl was covered in blood, and from what she could see she had packed up her stuff in a bag. "What happened to you?"

"… Cessily's gone. But I'll get her back." Laurie blinked at that. Instinctively, she entered the room.

"W-Wait a minute." She stopped in front of Laura, while she strapped on the bag. "What do you mean gone? What happened? Why all… All this blood?"

"They took her. The ones who made me, took her." That was enough. Cessily gasped. She didn't know much about Laura, but… She looked like she was ready for war. And Cessily had been kidnapped, so… She was probably in serious trouble. "And the longer you stand here, the harder it'll be for me to track her."

"…" Laurie was about to move out of the way, to suggest to her to go and warn the teachers… When suddenly… She felt the coldness of her new arm against her other arm… _… That's right…_ Didn't she want to be different? Stronger? Didn't she want to be a wallflower no more? A Wallflower… A word used to define a shy, gentle person… She wanted to be more than that. She breathed deeply and then stared at Laura back in her eyes. "I'm… I'm coming with you."

"No." She replied. Laurie narrowed her eyes… And then she got an idea. She grabbed Laura's right arm with her left one and then said…

"Activate protocol… Protocol Beta. Destination: South Bend city." She stuttered a bit, but the computer was advanced enough to nonetheless decipher what she said.

_Protocol Activated. Initiating teleport._

"What…" Before Laura could react or do anything else, the two girls disappeared from the room they were standing in, and reappeared… Just at the doors of South Bend, state of New York. Laura stared at her new surroundings… And then back at Laurie, who looked as shocked as her. But she cleared her voice and regained some composure once she noticed the black haired girl staring at her.

"I can control emotions through my pheromones, I have a brand new bionic arm with a teleporter and an energy field that protects me from bullets and most of all…" She let go of Laura's arm, letting her own ones drop to her sides, a determined gaze in her eyes. "I'm a friend of Cessily. So, I'm coming with you."

"…" Laura kept her silence for a few seconds then nodded. "Alright. Then, we have to make another stop."

--

_Now_

"Naruto."

"Laura? Laurie?" Naruto got down from the stool he was sitting on, and approached the two suddenly appeared girls. "What are you doing here? And…" He noticed. "Laura, is that…"

"Cessily is in trouble." Said Laurie, making Naruto forget everything else. "We need your help."

"Cess is in trouble?! What happened?!" Said Naruto. Laurie took his hand and whispered something. In another flash of blue light, the three of them disappeared from that room, leaving three pretty confused super-heroes seated at a breakfast table.

"… Tony, didn't you shield the building against teleporting?"

"There are levels for that… I guess it wasn't high enough."

--

"Woah! Didn't know you could do that, Laurie!" The jump had teleported them right on the western coast of Liberty Island, scaring the hell out of Naruto.

"Comes with the new arm." Laurie let go of Naruto and Laura's arms. "Where now, Laura?"

"First, I need to inform Naruto of the situation." Naruto focused on Laura's words. The girl didn't lose time in explaining. "Do you remember what I told you about the Facility? The ones who created me?" Naruto just nodded. How could he forget what she had told him about that place? "They have kidnapped Cessily." That made Naruto's heart skip a beat.

"B-But why? What do they want with Cessily?!"

"Probably some kind of experiment." That made Laurie get scared as well. "We have to find out their location and rescue her as soon as possible." She turned around and pointed in the direction of the land. "Laurie, we need to teleport to those docks over there."

"Y-Yes." While Laurie grabbed his left arm and started voicing the destination for their teleport, Naruto's mind was still processing what had just been said by Laura. They had kidnapped Cessily… The same people who had created Laura… And made her whole life hell on earth… But why?

--

"Where am I? What's going on?" No reply. Like in the first hour she had been there, lying in just her underwear in a tube of glass, in a lab, surrounded by the woman who had helped in kidnapping her and a dorky looking doctor with blonde hair, and other people in a lab-coat. "Will you talk to me?" She said, raising her voice a little. Nothing. The doctor just kept on observing what was going on a monitor, from which she had heard screams and noises… That she didn't like. Not one bit. She lost it. "What do you want?!"

"A little soy sauce would be nice." You need soy sauce, when you're eating Chinese. That wasn't the reply she wanted, though.

"Oh, just your flesh." She was a bit taken back by that. Her flesh? What did she mean? "Not me, though. I'm just here to watch the show." Suddenly, black tubes appeared in her prison. A couple of them struck her in her right leg. It didn't hurt, but still… It wasn't comforting.

"Let's begin, shall we?" Said the man with blonde hair, who she had heard called doctor Harkins. And suddenly, the air was filled with a strange humming noise. Like something was charging up. She hit the glass surrounding her. Nothing, like before. She couldn't break it. Suddenly, she felt helpless.

"I have friends, they'll come for me." As soon as Cessily said that, the humming noise disappeared, and was replaced by the noise of an electrical current. The electrical current flowing through her body, making her scream in pain. "AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!"

--

"I want to know where my daughter is!"

"Mrs Collins, please, calm down." Emma was forced to act telepathically on her mind to make her at least lower her voice. The school was in turmoil. The previous night, the café in the nearby town got blown up along with the O*N*E agent that was tailing Mercury and X-23. The two mutants' whereabouts were now unknown. And now Laurie had disappeared as well. The only known thing was that Laura had returned to the institute before disappearing again. Some of her stuff had disappeared, and there was blood in her room. Not of the mutant, though.

"…" Mrs Collins sat down on a chair, but that didn't stop her tears from flowing. "How could this happen? She had just recovered and…"

"I don't think that's the case. Kidnapping, I mean." The conversation got interrupted by Scott, who had just helped one of the O*N*E agents search Laurie's room. "From what we have seen, Laurie has woken up, taken a shower and dressed herself. And we have found some of her footprints in Sooraya's room."

"B-But… Then, what could have happened?" Asked mrs Collins. Scott closed and reopened his eyes slowly, even if no one could see behind the visor.

"Mrs Collins, your daughter and Mercury are friends, right?" The woman just nodded. Scott continued. "And… In the bionic arm that she got implanted the last night… It includes a teleporter, am I right?"

"W-What? Then…"

"Laurie has probably met Laura when she was on her way out to go and help Cessily. And once she got wind of the situation, she decided to tag along." The conversation was interrupted by Julian, this time, who had his arms crossed and was shaking his head. "For as incredible as that can be, knowing Laurie's character… But then again, Laurie wouldn't even have decided to cut off her own arm." He then sighed and said… "As much as I can't believe I'm saying this, you should probably stop Ashida before she and the others get it on with the sentinel outside."

"Indeed. We…" Suddenly, Emma received a psychic message. From the Sentry… She had almost forgot that that was included in his powers. And what she heard… She didn't like. "… Naruto is gone too." That picked up everyone's interest in the room. Wasn't he a guest of the Avengers? "Seems like… Two girls, a blonde and brunette, teleported in, picked him up and then teleported out again."

"…" Julian groaned. "I'll go and get the others, then."

--

"Dammit, Laura!" In New York, things like that were at day's order. People falling to their deaths through a glass window at the 14th floor of a skyscraper. What they didn't see very often was a ladder of blonde-haired twins shooting out behind him and grabbing him before he went 'splat' on the floor. Laurie would have opposed it too, like she had opposed what they had done at the docks, but at the moment she was too focused on puking because of the height. The group of Narutos managed to bring back up the guy, and the real one, the one helping Laurie not fall while 'incapacitated', continued the speech. "First at the docks, now here. No more killing, I said!"

"He isn't dead. You saved him." Naruto palmed his own face.

"Laura, I don't… I don't want to believe that you've gotten so used to killing that you can't understand why it's wrong…"

"…" Laura shrugged her shoulders. Naruto blushed.

"You're sexy as hell! But don't think you can get me distracted from what you've been doing!"

"I… I think I can stand up, now…" Laurie breathed deeply and wiped her mouth with a handkerchief. Courtesy of the man Laura had tried to kill. She shook her head and looked around… And stuck out her tongue. "Oh my… I think this guy crapped his own pants before falling unconscious…" She had another attack of puke.

"Oh, no! L-Laurie!"

"Urgh… Must… Pheromones…" Suddenly, Laurie breathed in deeply… And then breathed out with a flush on her face. "Aaaah… That's better…"

"Uh? Now that…" Naruto sniffed… And 'Aaaaw'ed with the same expression. "Wow… This feels… I feel so relaxed…"

"It's an idea I got… Using my own pheromones on myself… Much better than aroma-therapy, hn?"

"…" Even if Laura didn't show it, she had gotten affected by the pheromones too. And she started forming up a plan… "Laurie… I think we can use your pheromones for this."

"Eh?" Laurie shot her head in Laura's direction. "R-Really? I can be useful?" Laura just nodded.

"Listen to me. We will…"

--

"Aaaaaah!" It had been going for hours… And with each try, it became more painful. She couldn't keep a shape anymore, because of the pain. Her face was barely there. They kept on removing pieces of her body, first with electricity, now with lasers… And she didn't know what else they had been using. She almost wished they succeeded so that the pain would end.

"Life signs negative, sir. The separated matter is dead." Said one of the assistants to Harkins. The doctor just sighed and run a hand through his hair, removing the glasses for the gesture.

"Miss Kincaid, your metallic form is determined to put up a fight." He put them back on and shifted his attention to his assistant. "Double the laser power. Run the cycle faster. We need the sample alive."

"No… No, please… Don't…" Unfortunately for Cessily, that just meant more pain. "Aaaaaaah!" The laser hit her and caused her so much pain that she lost control of her form completely. So much that she finally managed to break the barrier keeping her trapped, injuring Harkins' assistant in the process. The doctor kept his cool, and ordered to 'take her down'. That meant another electric shock to paralyze her. "Hhk!"

"Uh, god. My chest. H-Help… Help me…" Anderson, Harkins' assistant, was showing clear discomfort at the amount of blood he was losing… But the doctor's attention was upon something else.

"Wait… Look." Too bad his attention was too much on the piece of Cess that had remained stuck on his body. Ignoring the please for help of his assistant, he simply held out his hand. "Someone get a bio-container." The piece of Mercury started to wrap himself around the doctor's hand, while the man observed it fascinated. "Amazing. Organic metal. Look at it, Anderson. It's alive." He observed its movements, its tries to do something… And he finally knew what. And how to extract what they needed. "Look how it moves… It's trying to heal. It wants to bond to an organism… To flesh."

"Please… C-Cold…" The doctor got up from his kneed position while talking to his assistants.

"We're proceeding to stage three. Prepare for sample replication, and prepare the subject." He walked away, going to prepare the machinery they would need. "Oh, and someone get Anderson a medic."

--

"Sniff… I… I will never be respected like the Kingping…"

"There, there, big guy." Naruto couldn't believe that he was patting a crime-lord on the back, comforting him about his sudden existential crisis. And his goons were doing the same with each other. Laurie's pheromones had been very effective… Maybe too much. "I mean, you've never been in control of a big city before, right?"

"Laura, your eyes are red."

"I… Think I breathed some of them in… It's no big deal…"

"Y-Yes, but… I wish I could do more." Naruto handed him a handkerchief. "PROOOOT!"

"Ah, come on. You're a great crime lord. Otherwise, we wouldn't have come here, you know?" The Owl sniffed some more.

"Really?"

"Of course! We've come here because you're the biggest there is! You're the only one who can tell us what we need to know!" Naruto gave him the 'nice guy pose'. Thumb up and his trademark grin. The owl seemed a bit relieved.

"R-Really?"

"Laurie, stop laughing. Don't break your focus."

"Of course!" Continued Naruto, focusing on not laughing himself. "So, do you know where we can find the nearest Facility's base?"

"O-Of course I know."

--

"So, now? We teleport…"

"No." Said Laura, cutting off Naruto. "It's unlikely that we will be able to sneak through the Facility, even if we teleport right inside. Also, it's better to have all of your three charges ready."

"So…" Naruto's eyes were narrowed, observing a map of the state that Laura had brought along. "The plan is to storm the place, take out all the guards using Laurie's powers, free Cessily before they get out of it and teleport away?"

"Me again? But…" Laurie shook her head. She was stuttering yet again. "I mean, I can do it… But what if they have some sort of defence against it? Or… Something goes wrong?"

"In that case, we'll have to take them out the old way." Naruto punched his left open palm saying that. "Let's go, then. What are we waiting for?"

"Waiting, nothing." Said Laura, while getting on the floor… And observing the jets behind her. "We're searching for an alternative way of transport."

"Ah. That's why you made me teleport into the military airport?" While Laura asked Laurie to use her powers constantly on the people they would meet, Naruto bit his thumb nervously, and then raised his head to the sky.

_Cess… Please be safe._

--

"Hnnn…"

"Wakey wakey, miss Kincaid." She would have preferred to stay asleep, she would later think. She woke up to find her again behind glass, and in a different laboratory. And yet again… She tried to reason with her captor.

"Please… Your name is Harkins, right?" She said. The doctor didn't say anything. "Why are you doing this to me? What do you want. Just talk to me."

"What do we want? The Facility I work for is a business, miss Kincaid. We provide our clients with weapons. In fact, your friend X-23 is one of our best creations." Harkins decided that he could at least tell her. Since for a reason or another, soon she would be no more. "Our current client wanted us to create a very specific item, to do a very specific job. He left it to us to how to proceed. He did, however, offer to supply us with a single crucial ingredient that was necessary to complete the weapon." He turned around and pressed a single button. The other glass cylinder in the room began to light up, revealing its inside. "Unfortunately, you and your friends killed him before he could deliver us the material."

"…" She and her friends had killed someone? Who could… The she hit her. "Stryker…"

"Indeed. So that is why we came to collect you, miss Kincaid." The cylinder was completely light up, revealing… A monster. It was hissing, it didn't have skin, showing the muscles underneath, and its gaze… "You are that final ingredient."

"Oh my god." It hissed and the growled, showing its terrifying maw. "That thing…"

"Impressive, isn't it? I'm calling it Predator X." Harkins put on a pair of goggles, that were needed to protect his eyes from the strong lights that were about to fill the room. "All it needs now is skin. Your skin." Cess' eyes widened at that.

"Nonononono… Please…" They were going to cut her up again… To rip part of her body out and bond it to that… That… "Don't… Don't do this."

"Shhh, it's okay… It's okay…" Harkins put the goggles on and removed his glasses. "We don't need all of your flesh and it's very likely you're going to survive! Which is good…" Harkins wasn't Kimura, that was for sure… "Because the creature will be hungry when the bonding process is completed." But he had a knack for dark humour as well. He turned to his assistants. "Fire it up."

"Please…" The humming noise was back. And with it, a kind of laser. Only… This time it was a web. A web of lasers. "You don't have to…" She never managed to finish that sentence. Because there was pain again. Excruciating, enormous, invalidating pain.

--

"Do you have them?" Incredible, the Avengers had chosen to collaborate, since Naruto was a guest, so they said. Thanks to their help they had managed to trace down the movements of the trio of mutants. After visits to shady groups of individual through New York, they had visited the military airport and stole a jet. What was needed now was to track them. Cerebra was the fastest way.

"I'm activating Cerebra now. You may want to hold onto something, colonel." Emma started to focus. In the room appeared a psychic representation of the united states of America. The white queen scanned first for the one in the most troubles. Mercury… In vain. "Cessily isn't showing up, dammit."

"What about Naruto, Laurie and X-23? Maybe if we can track them down, they'll…"

"Unless you have any other obvious advice, Mr Alleyne, I'd like to concentrate now." Emma replied. David muttered a silent 'sorry'. Emma scanned them… And found them with ease, with the exception of Naruto. His X-Gene was like… Flashing. No matter. "I have them." She began to read their minds. "They're at the northern border of New York, aboard the jet they've stolen. They're all worried for Mercury. Laurie is nervous. They think they know where Cessily is." She focused more. She needed more details… And she didn't like what she was reading. Not at all. "She's been captured… By the people who created X-23. The children are going after Cessily." She tried to talk to them, to stop them, to wait for back-up… She lost them. They had entered a zone shielded from telepathy. "Gone. They're gone. I've lost them."

"David, prep the Blackbird. We're going after them." Stated Cyclops, just as Surge and Santo entered the room as well. No one paid mind to Rockslide's comment about David's flying skills. The colonel replied…

"Let the O*N*E help, Cyclops." He said. "We know a thing or two about tracking mutants."

--

"… Laura, we're nearing the place."

"I know." Replied the brunette to Laurie.

"I mean, shouldn't we land this thing?"

"We're not landing it." Laurie blinked… Then… She blanked when she understood why she was flying the jet so close to the ground.

"No… You don't want to…"

"Don't worry. The laboratories are underground."

"THAT'S NOT WHAT I MEANT!"

"Naruto." He nodded. Kage Bunshin and Kawarimi.

--

"Hhh… Ht…" All the pain… It had finally ended… But it had left her in a broken state. It hurt to think, it hurt to talk, it hurt to just keep a human form… "Help… Me…" It hurt to cry. Her eyes were unfocused. She was laying on her left side, the only thing in her vision the edge of the non-glass part of her 'container'. Her hearing caught every noise in the room and brought them to her like one messy amount of chaos. Including the hisses of the creature who was now covered in her flesh.

"Contact Risman and tell him that the creature should be ready for delivery within the week." Risman observed with care and a bit of pride his newest creation. "And tell him that we went ahead and m…" He interrupted his speech when the ground shook and an enormous explosion filled the air around him. He almost fell to the ground, and the alarms went on. "What?! What is going on?!"

_Alert! Alert! Perimeter breach! All security personnel report to building one!_

"What is going on?!" Cessily didn't notice that either. The only thing she felt was one of her silver tears slowly falling down on the bridge of her nose. Harkins just kept on shouting in the intercom. "Someone report, dammit! Where's Kimura?! Kimura, report! What's happening down there?!"

"_Relax, Harkins. It's nothing we can't handle."_

--

"How much time do you need, Laurie?"

"A minute, I think… This was faster when Sofia used her wind powers…" Laurie was focusing on making her pheromones fill the room while at the same time not making them hit Laura and Naruto. "But of course, they still take a few seconds to have effect."

"… So we have to survive for a couple of minutes while being surrounded by fifty heavily angry soldiers, who seem pretty pissed off because we just run a jet through their base and into the forest behind." It was an incredible sight. A wrecked open facility surrounded by a flaming forest, lighting the structure in red. "Your plan is a little flawed, Laura."

"Got a better one?" Replied Laura, serious as hell, though. Naruto nodded.

"Actually, I do." Naruto the first of his bracelets and then crossed his fingers together. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu." The room got filled with smoke for a brief second. That's all that they needed. They as in, Naruto's clones. The fifty guards' cry of pain and help filled the room for a few seconds, followed by the sounds of them falling to the ground. The smoke cleared soon to leave place to a room now full of unconscious soldiers with their armors busted in some places and a lot of Naruto clones standing over them, some in a cocky posture. Naruto grinned before dispelling them, before turning to the two surprised girls beside him. "Piece of cake."

"… That was… Fast…" Said Laurie. Laura blinked and then regained her composure.

"Indeed… But, maybe it had been better if… AAH!"

"ACK!"

"NNNH! MY HEAD!" The three young mutants all ended simultaneously on the ground, because they all fell under the effect of the same device. A device sending out sonic waves that had the objective of turning their brains inside out.

"It would have been better if you hadn't dispelled all those clones. Maybe, just maybe…" Kimura stepped near them, so that the device was even more effective. Naruto suddenly cursed having heightened senses… And he guessed Laura did too, judging from the blood coming out of her nose. "You could have avoided this."

_Continue…_

_In the next chapter…_

After a long battle, Naruto and his friends finally manages to save Cessily. But the situation has left many people shaken, and forced them to think about some things. These people include Naruto. The blonde, after reflecting, makes a decision. A big decision. Stay tuned.

**Special III**

**Characters' Bios**

**Name: **Cessily Kincaid (Mercury)

**Affiliations: **New X-Men

**Powers:** Body is composed of a non-toxic form of mercury, which she can reshape and stretch at will

**Name: **Steve Rogers (Captain America)

**Affiliations: **Avengers

Secret Avengers

**Powers:** Physical attributes enhanced to peak of human potential  
Expert martial artist and hand-to-hand combatant  
All terrain acrobatics  
Master tactician and field commander  
Vibranium-steel alloy shield

**Name: **Tony Stark (Iron-Man)

**Affiliations: **Avengers

Mighty Avengers

**Powers:** Genius-level intellect  
Cyberpathic link with powerful armored suit:

Super-strength

Supersonic flight at Mach 3

Energy repulsors

Missiles

Durability and regenerative life support

**Name: **Jamie Madrox (Multiple Man)

**Affiliations: **X-Factor

X-Factor Investigations

**Powers:** Self-Replication

**Name: **Layla Miller (Butterfly)

**Affiliations: **X-Factor Investigations

**Powers:** Precognition,  
Awareness of changes to reality,  
Ability to restore the memories of individuals affected by changes to reality,  
Ability to see paths of causality develop

**Name: **Guido Carosella (Strong Guy)

**Affiliations: **X-Factor

X-Factor Investigations

**Powers:** Ability to rechannel kinetic energy into physical strength

**Name: **Rahne Sinclair (Wolfsbane)

**Affiliations: **New Mutants

X-Men

X-Factor Investigations

**Powers:** Ability to shapeshift into a wolf-like humanoid, or into a full wolf at will

**Name: **Laura Kinney (X-23)

**Affiliations: **New X-Men

**Powers:** Regenerative healing factor  
Adamantium laced retractable claws  
Superhuman strength, stamina, agility, reflexes, and senses

**Name: **William Stryker

**Affiliations: **Purifiers

**Powers:** Robotic arm from Nimrod and has an implant capable of blocking low level telepathy

**Name: **Laurie Collins (Wallflower)

**Affiliations: **New X-Men

**Powers:** Pheromone manipulation

**Name: **Jennifer Susan Walters (She-Hulk)

**Affiliations:** Goodman, Lieber, Kurtzberg & Holliway  
Avengers  
Defenders  
Fantastic Four  
Fantastic Force  
Heroes For Hire  
S.H.I.E.L.D.

**Powers:** Superhuman strength, speed, agility, stamina and durability

Regenerative healing factor

**Name: **Joshua 'Jay' Guthrie (Icarus)

**Affiliations: **New X-Men

**Powers:** Flight,  
Accelerated healing factor,  
Sound mimicry

**Name: **Jonathan 'Johnny' Storm (Human Torch)

**Affiliations: **Fantastic Four

**Powers:** Fire manipulation

Flight

Ability to absorb heat energy

Pyrokinesis

**Name: **Hisako Ichiki (Armor)

**Affiliations: **X-Men

**Powers:** Ability to generate psionic body armor that grants superhuman strength and durability

**Name: **Reed Richards (Mr Fantastic)

**Affiliations: **Fantastic Four

**Powers:** Superhuman intellect

Body elasticity

**Name: **Elijah Bradley (Patriot)

**Affiliations: **Young Avengers

**Powers:** Enhanced strength, speed, agility, endurance, and hearing

**Name: **Sam Wilson (Falcon)

**Affiliations: **Avengers

**Powers:** Empathic link with pet falcon  
Ability to see through the eyes of nearby birds  
Flight  
Skilled martial artist and gymnast


	16. Mercury Rising III

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto nor Marvel… MEINOS SMASH.

**No Reading**

**Chapter14: Suffering leads to…**

"Feels like your brain is turning to mush, hn?" Indeed. It really felt like that. Like his brain was liquefying. Laurie was outright screaming, so much was her pain. "Well, trust me. It's nothing compared to what our little clone is feeling." Kimura leaned down and grabbed Laura by her hair and slammed her into the nearby wall.

"L-Leave her alone…" Muttered Naruto. It hurt so much… Kimura smirked and stuck the sound-waves generator to her right shoulder.

"So X, you've got yourself a boyfriend… I'm impressed… But you've got a lot to learn about first dates." She got out of her right pocket a vicious looking knife, holding it blade down, and turned to Naruto again. "Keep watching, awesome! You don't want to miss this." She turned to Laura again, the smirk still in place. "Welcome home, X." She struck her down through the chest. She loved doing this. She loved… Wait a minute. She would have expected at least one of the three to cry out 'Nooo'. Instead, the blonde girl had stopped screaming, and the boy had muttered something almost inaudible. She turned to him again. "What was that?"

"I… Said…" He continued. But it was a grinning Laura who finished the sentence.

"Surprise, fucker." Suddenly, the three young mutants disappeared in cloud of smokes. Before Kimura could even understand that she had been tricked, a sharp object hit the sound waves generator and impaled it into the wall near her, destroying it. She turned around… Just to see an enormous red claw grab her whole body and slam her into the very same wall. The owner of the said appendage was the blonde boy who had just tricked her, who was suddenly in the middle of the room along with his two groupies.

"You… Fucker…" She couldn't break free. The grip was unbelievably strong.

"Kage Bunshin and Transformation technique. Did you really believe we would jump out of the jet and directly into the fray?" Mocked Naruto, while approaching the imprisoned woman step by step, shortening the length of his red arm too. "What should we do with her, now?"

"Kill her, Laurie."

"Eh?"

"W-What?" The sudden reply caught the two blondes in the room by surprise. Laura had just asked… She had just asked Laurie to kill Kimura?! "You want me to…"

"Do it. You have to kill her." Laura seemed pretty adamant on that matter. More than usual.

"Woah, woah, woah! Hold the phone!" Naruto turned to the girls, but they seemed to ignore his words.

"B-But I…" Laurie stuttered. She couldn't believe what she was hearing.

"Kimura's body is indestructible. Naruto and I can't kill her, but you can." That made the two yellow-haired teens even more uncomfortable. "Use your pheromones on her. Focus on despair, sadness…"

"What are you saying?" Replied Laurie. Laura didn't wait a second before replying, sharply…

"You have to make her suicide." That made their eyes widen. Make her suicide? Laurie was pretty shaken by the request. Especially because she had done it… When they were trapped in that alternate reality because of M-Day. She had killed Quentin using her powers exactly like that. Even if she didn't remember, she could at least feel repulsion for the action. Laura pressed on. "She's a monster… She deserves to die."

"No, I… I can't… Not something…" Laurie had covered her mouth with her hands, and a tear had escaped her left eye. Naruto was about to intervene again, but Kimura beat him to it.

"She's right about me." She replied. Naruto narrowed his eyes. She was mocking them? Even in that situation? In that moment she was mocking Laurie in particular, though. "Too bad that you and I both know you don't have the stones to do me in, sis."

"I… I…" Laurie seemed fought, shaken.

"Laurie. Don't force yourself." Said Naruto, interrupting that conversation. He then turned to Kimura grinning maliciously. "You can't be hurt? Oh, good." Naruto suddenly grabbed tightly a piece of the wall and Kimura and launched both of them high in the air.

"What the…?!" Naruto got into a lowered pose and turned the third and fourth bracelet, unleashing the huge burst of energy and focusing all the chakra so obtained into the right upper part of his body. Kimura suddenly felt the need to harden her body as much as she could.

"I really needed a test subject." Naruto jumped towards Kimura and punched her in the stomach with all his strength… Which was at the moment a great deal, since Kimura flew high in the sky, directed towards the forest, at a really high speed. Naruto landed on his feet and turned off all his bracelets, before turning back to the two girls. "Even if she deserved to die, Laura… Compassion is the only thing that makes us different from them. Care for living beings. That's why we're here for in the first place, right?"

"…" Laura just stared at him blankly, before lowering her head. Laurie had managed to get a hold of herself. Naruto nodded to them.

"Let's go find Cessily."

--

_12,1 Miles away…_

"Ack… That hurt…" Kimura had landed some miles away. And she suddenly felt grateful that she had listened to her instincts and used her powers to the max. The blow of that shorty had been so strong. "It's going… To get livid… A freaking livid… On my body?"

--

"Cessily!" Naruto slammed down another reinforced door. According to Laura's sense of smell, they had finally reached Cessily's location. Naruto ran inside the room and began to look around. "Cessily, where are you?!"

"… Cess?" Naruto felt Laurie basically whisper that, as if she had just seen something horrible. He turned in her same direction… And he saw a glass tube… Filled… With a puddle… Of grey liquid?

"Cess… Cessily?!" Naruto ran to the tube and shattered the glass down with another punch. The liquid substance began to fall to the ground. "Cessily! Talk to me! Get back together! Cess!"

"Oh… My…" Laurie felt her eyes beginning to water again… She shook her head. She needed to be stronger. She needed to keep it together… And that's how she noticed that Laura was looking around. "L-Laura?"

"Something's wrong. Cessily's scent… It's everywhere."

"Cess, please… Pull yourself together… Please, come back!" The liquid was randomly shifting, moving and jumping. But now… It was starting to take a shape. A face. A pain-struck face.

"Nnn… Naru… Naruto…" Her voice was so weak. Naruto just kept on staring. "Please… Make them stop." His hear skipped a beat. "Make them stop… Hurting me…"

"…" In Naruto's brain, something suddenly clicked. Cessily had been hurt so much that she couldn't get herself together. Literally. And she had been there for less than 24 hours. Laura… Laura had…

"Naruto, this is wrong! We have to leave! N…"

"NARUTO! BEHIND YOU!" Surprisingly, Laurie was the first to spot the growling, silver-covered creature that jumped from the dark on Naruto. The creature first clawed him in the back and then bit him on the right shoulder. Naruto… He didn't even flinch. It seemed like the creature felt that something was wrong as well. It didn't move from his position. It just kept on holding Naruto down with its jaw. Seeing this, Cessily had managed to get somewhat her shape back.

"M-More than one…" Laura turned around to see other beasts jumping towards them. She unsheathed her claws… Just to see Naruto suddenly passing her, holding the beast who had bit him with both his arms, and using it as a club to send the other two flying into the wall far away, before slamming the one he was holding into the ground.

"… You bastards…" Naruto observed how the one he had just slammed into the ground was regenerating his injuries… How it looked so much like Cessily. "YOU DAMN BASTARDS!"

--

"Look at them, Anderson… Their hunger for the X-Gene is insatiable." Harkins was observing everything through his monitor from another location. A safe one. "It's as if they're aware that they'll die without it." He observed as Naruto punched in the gut one of the creatures, only for the creature to shrug it off and bite his arm. "And while X-23's arrival was unplanned, she will be the perfect test run for the creatures. It'll be good to have her back in our possession… Provided she survives, of course." He observed how the blonde girl was helping Cessily get back together while Laura jumped to Naruto's help and slashed the creature on her eyes, while Naruto punched it on the side of the head. That broke its hold on his arm, but nothing less. Most of the hit didn't affect the creature, because it just shifted its face to make it less effective. "See that? The mercury not only bonded, but changed the biology of the host creature. The Kincaid girl doesn't even know how powerful she is."

While Harkins kept on ogling the result of his latest experiment, his assistant arrived. While his superior was the genius, he seemed to be the one with reason.

"Sir, shouldn't we be going?" He said,

"The clone just cut one." Laura dodged a swipe and cut the creature across his back, only for the cut to disappear almost immediately. "Look at how it reforms. The creatures won't stop the attack until they've consumed every drop of mutant blood. This is our finest creation, if I do say so myself."

"Sir, please!" Pledged the assistant. Harkins sighed.

"Fine, Anderson… We'll go." The doctor gave the monitor one last look before turning his body around. "Once the creatures finish here they'll move on to other feeding grounds… And if the reverend's 'antichrist' really does exist, they'll find it."

--

"Nnn… Why…" Naruto was under one of the creatures, which was trying to bite off his head, pushing him back with his bare hands. He gritted his teeth. "Why don't you die?!" He suddenly used his legs to flip back and launch away the monster far behind him. He then did another flip and he landed near his friends, observing as that attack as well hadn't managed to affect them. "Darn it… They're just like Cessily… They can't be hurt that easily…"

"What… What should we do? I've already tried to use my pheromones, but… It doesn't work…" Little did Laurie know that the beasts' minds were totally focused on getting food for themselves. Naruto gritted his teeth. He couldn't afford to do what he had done against Nimrod again. One, because those things were incredibly fast and could maybe dodge it. Second, it took some time. Third, if he missed just one of them he would not wake up anymore from unconsciousness.

"You have to take Cessily and teleport away." Laura took a step forward. "I will hold them off as long as I can…"

"Don't even suggest it. We're not here to leave behind other people." Naruto suddenly crossed his fingers. "Run? Okay! Here's the distraction! Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" The room was suddenly filled with twenty more blonde haired teens who threw themselves at the beasts. "There! Let's go! Go! We have to buy enough time to teleport away!"

"…" Naruto picked Cessily from Laurie and put her on her back. Laura went ahead of them in the corridor and slammed her left punch in the face of a newly arrived soldier, stealing its rifle from him. They walked down the corridors… But not for long.

"Aaah!" One of the creatures had preferred to follow them… As in, destroying a wall to follow them through the nearby corridor. The debris fell upon Laurie, blocking her and making her fall unconscious.

"Oh, no!" Naruto kicked him under the gut, making it stagger… Enough for the other ones to follow him in the corridor and for Naruto to pick up Laurie and jump back. "This is bad…"

"Oh, Laura… Laura…" Naruto's ears caught Cessily's moaning words, but he had to focus his eyes on the beasts in front of him. "They took part of me. My flesh… They need my mercury…" The blonde ninja gritted his teeth in anger. He could see that. "Please… Don't let them take me back…"

"I won't." Laura unsheathed her claws with a clear snikt and charged at the creatures. She would attack, Naruto would stay near the two disabled girl.

"**Raaar!"** Laura knew that she needed to take them out one at the time. But, will she manage to do it? To keep up? She slammed all her hand-claws in the sides of one of the creatures' head. She then used one her feet to slash across the throat, clearly beheading it. One down… But the other two didn't waste time. One of the two bite her on her left arm, while the other one on her hip. Laura cried out in pain.

"NOOOO!" Naruto used Kage Bunshin to create a defensive shield against the two other girls, and completely enveloped in red chakra threw himself at the two creatures, his hands enveloped by two enormous claws, managing to make them lose their 'hold' on Laura. He turned behind. "Get out of here! Get… Urk!" He distracted himself. The first creature managed to paw him in the face, making him lose his grip enough for the second one to bite him on his left side. "AAAAAAARGH!" It then threw him into a nearby wall, not without keeping a big chunk of his body.

"Nnngh…" Cessily was seemingly getting back together… She saw one of the creatures, dead, just across of her. That seemed to wake her up, somewhat. "They took part of me…" She stretched her left arm… And she saw how that part of her body that had bonded with the creature returned to her.

"Cessily! We have to run! Cessily!" Laura had been the first to recover, and was helping Naruto back to her feet. The Kage Bunshin couldn't stop the assault of the creatures for more than a brief second, since the two monsters slammed into them. Cessily barely had the time to grab Laurie and reach the other two mutants.

"Nnhh… I…" Naruto was coming back to his senses… Just to see the other door across the hall open, revealing another contingent of soldiers. He silently cursed, getting back on his feet. "… Is… This… It?" Instinctively, his eyes lowered to his armband. He was currently using three bracelets of power… But he was not going to use more. Victory with the loss of his friends… Wasn't an option.

"… I'm… I'm sorry…" Naruto turned his head to Laura while the two fronts closed in on them. He gasped when he saw… He saw her shed a single tear. "I… I couldn't save Cessily… And I involved you and Laurie as well… I couldn't protect y…" Naruto suddenly put a hand on her head, silencing her.

"… Laura… This is the second time that you do something heroic… You saved all of us once, and now you tried to save Cessily…" Laura turned to him, to receive a smile. A sincere smile, not strained at all, even if they were about to meet their demises in an unsightly way. "How can I blame you for that?"

"…" Laura shed another silent tear, but then turned his attention back to their enemies and her claws were out once again. Naruto nodded and grinned.

"That's the spirit. Let's…" Suddenly, he heard a loud noise coming from the outside… And then an even louder noise coming from above. He and Laura turned around to see… A sentinel ripping apart the structure's roof. Above it, the Blackbird. And from the blackbird… He grinned.

"What the--?!" Said one of the soldiers.

"The cavalry is here!" Shouted Naruto. From the black bird was falling down half of the full roster of the X-Men and all the remaining New X-Men. Surge and Cyclops leading the charge, attacking the creatures as soon as she landed on the ground.

"X-Men, take them down!"

"Santo! Sooraya! Julian! Get to Cessily!" The two leaders took down one of the creatures with their first joined blow, while a second one attacked Colossus. The sentinel that was with them took care of it. Rockslide, Hellion and Dust started to take care with ease of the soldiers. Naruto fell down on his butt, sighing in relief.

"Uff… That was close…" In a few seconds, the soldiers were running around in fright, while their friends approached. Cessily was finally back to her sense, it seemed. The shock had wore off. She slowly crawled to Naruto. The blonde grinned to her. "Hey… I'm happy to see you back in one piece…"

"… Naruto…" The blonde raised his hands and then pointed at Laurie and Laura.

"Those two… Are who you should… Be thanking…" Said that, he let the two arms fall down again. Cessily stared at him for a few more seconds and grabbed one of his hands, gently. In the meanwhile, Emma approached Laura, a look that was between sad and apologetic.

"You were right. I should have left the school." Said the brunette.

"Laura, I…"

"Now Cessily will never be the same…" Laura's gaze shifted to the silver girl, while Elixir approached Laurie and used his powers to help her wake up.

--

"I understand… Thanks for the information, Colonel Reyes." Tony closed the call and turned to Reed. "They managed to track them down. All's well, now."

"It's good news, Tony." Reed simply nodded to the leader of the Mighty Avengers, and then returned even his bodily attention to the machine he was using to analyze the blood of the blonde boy that had had as a guest. "Seems like that tracking down his provenience, though, will take some time."

"… Take your time with it." The CEO of the Stark Industries began to walk out of the lab. He needed a drink. That comment from Tony caught Reed's attention.

"Take your time with it?" Reed actually turned his head to the man fully. "Tony… You have… Plans for this boy, maybe?"

"…" Tony stopped walking away. His mind processed the plan that had been forming in his mind ever since he had an occasion to talk with Naruto some more and to observe him closely, in action. Yet again. He had lost count. He then said… "I guess… You could call it like that."

--

"So… It's over?"

"Harkins got away." Replied Laura to Laurie. The students had been allowed to rest outside of the facility while the teachers and the O*N*E searched the facility, only to find that it was like an enormous mutant butchery.

"… Do you think I should have killed that woman?" Asked the blonde. Laura turned her head in her direction. "I mean… She was bad, and… I just… Do you think that it was wrong letting her go?"

"… Logically, yes. But…" Laura lowered her gaze and turned around her head once more. "I think… That you've made the right decision. Not doing it."

"… It could have been so easy…" Laurie observed her bionic arm, turning the hand around and observing the back of it. "Killing… Why is it so easy?"

"…" Laura didn't have a reply for that.

"Here you go, Cess." Julian had taken upon himself to stay near Cess while Naruto helped search the compound.

"Julian, one of those… Things… Got away." Replied Cessily, while Julian covered her with a blanket.

"No one knows that for sure. They're sweep…" Mercury cut him off again.

"I know." She simply said, and she then turned her head in the direction of the forest. "I can feel it."

--

"…" It seemed like Naruto had taken a certain affinity to helping sweeping places full of corpses. It was creepy, but… It was making him reflect. That was… The fourth time ever since he was there. But just one out of those three didn't involve mutants… But most of all, didn't involve an organization. A well organized group of people. _Just… How much time have these people been…_ While he walked to the ground floor again, similar thoughts kept on going on through his mind. He turned a corner… And stumbled into Cyclops, Reyes, Colossus and Surge. _… I have to ask._ "Excuse me…"

"Militia…" Cyclops was the first to acknowledge the boy's presence. Everyone followed suit turning around. The leader of the X-Men continued. "You've done a good job. But I think you still should have asked for our assistance before…"

"They thought they didn't have time for that." Surge cut him off, knowing what had passed through Laura's mind. "Isn't that right?" Naruto just nodded.

"Yes, but… I'd have… A few questions." Said the blonde. That caught everyone's attention. The ninja kept his silence for a few more seconds, before asking. He was choosing carefully his words. "… This organization… They 'created' Laura, right?"

"Yes…" Replied Cyclops. Naruto lowered his head.

"That means… That they've been going around doing this kind of things for more than years… At the very least." He continued. Cyclops said 'Yes' again. "The purifiers too, right? And other kind of organizations… I mean, I'm not talking about single persons… There are a lot of organizations that do things like that from… From before I was born, and…" He raised his head. "And no one ever decided to take them down for good? To strike at them before they did something like this again?"

"…" Cyclops was the one who choose silence for a few seconds, this time. He shook his head. "The problem is exactly that. They're big… And some of them… Have powerful connections with various important figures. And worst of all, in our case… Well, let's just say that the public opinion is to leave mutants' problems to mutants. Or something like that."

"Even now that you're so few?" Naruto asked. Cyclops choose complete silence this time. The blonde ninja stared at him for a few more seconds before lowering his gaze and clenching his hands into punches. "… I understand…"

"… We will be going home very soon." Cyclops turned around and walked away followed by the Colonel and Colossus. "Militia, Surge. Go to your friends."

"… Alright." Surge walked ahead, with Naruto right behind her, but he was walking more slowly. He had got the answers he wanted, but… He didn't like them that much.

--

Ever since they had come back to the mansion, Cessily had secluded herself in her room. After cleaning up and getting some clothes on, she hadn't done anything but sit on her bed, hugging her legs to her chest, staring at nothing. People had come to check on her from time to time, but after a few words she just told them that she would have liked to stay alone. Apart to Sooraya. She had been the last one to visit her… And she felt like she had to talk to someone. The knock on her door signalled to her that they had arrived. The door opened to reveal Laurie and Laura.

"Sooraya said you wanted to talk to us." Said the brunette, closing the door right behind Laurie, who was massaging her neck.

"I didn't remember my mother to be this strong…" That made Cessily smile a little.

"I just wanted to thank you for saving me… Well, in your case, Laura… I mean again." She then turned to Laurie. "And thanks to you too, Laurie. You know… I would have never thought you to be so… So."

"Hey. We're friends, right?" Replied the blonde, sitting on her bed with a smile. Cessily shook her head, smiling… For a few instants. Her smiled soon disappeared. Laurie noticed this. "Cess…"

"Those people… The Facility…" Then, tears started flowing down her eyes. She stared at the ground, but she was talking to Laura. "What they did to me…" The pain she had endured… All that pain… She couldn't believe someone could ever suffer that much. "Did you ever spend your whole life there?"

"Yes." Laura's reply was simple… But to Cessily, it held all the truth of the world. She threw herself at the brunette and hugged her around the waist.

"Oh, god Laura… They hurt me so bad!" She broke down, crying out and hiccupping. Laurie was moved to tears as well. "It hurts so much!" For both girls. Cessily… But Laura. Laura had been hurt like that every single day of her life… How… How terrible… "It hurts…"

"I know…" Laura tried to comfort her, placing her hands on her back, hugging Cessily back. Laurie decided to join them, and hugged both of her friends, old and new.

"…" Unknown to them, outside the door, another blonde was listening. He had wanted to have kind of the same talk with Laura, and had followed her to Cessily's room, just to hear their conversation from the corridor. A lot of things started going through his head. The events of the past weeks, but mostly various sentences.

_I saw that __the heroes have started fighting with each other because some didn't want to join the registration. But… If they fight with each other, who fights with the bad guys?_

"_The problem is exactly that. They're big… And some of them… Have powerful connections with various important figures. And worst of all, in our case… Well, let's just say that the public opinion is to leave mutants' problems to mutants. Or something like that."_

"_I mean, how does it work? All the registered heroes hunt down the unregistered ones?"_

"_Just those who want to. That's why I didn't insist further with the X-Men after the first time. Carol's try was out of her own initiative. We can't force anyone to hunt down those who they once considered comrades, allies, friends."_

"_But you do it… I mean, it must be though…"_

"…" He bit his lower lip and almost hurt himself from the strength he was using in gripping his punches, sadness leaving place to rage. Then, he suddenly felt his cellphone vibrate. He picked it up from his pocket. A message… From Layla.

I think you'll need this number. And know that no matter what you do, I'll support you. And not just because I know you're doing the right thing.

"…" It was a telephone number… And its owner… "… Thanks, Layla." He walked away. He needed to make that call from an isolated place.

--

"…" Tony had passed the day between his many appointments and hunting down unregistered heroes along with the Mighty Avengers. And soon the prison in the Negative Zone would be complete. But there was a curiosity. No matter where he had went, he had always brought with him his cellphone and left it open. Because he had a feeling that soon he would receive a certain call from one of his employees or someone from S.H.I.E.L.D. about a certain mutant looking for him. It was now evening, and he was having dinner with certain important individual. But the cellphone was still on, even if… It suddenly started to vibrate. "Excuse me, Mr President. I have an incoming call."

"Of course, Tony. It's probably very important."

"Probably." Tony got up from the table and walked out, on the balcony of the restaurant… And he raised an eyebrow when he noticed that he didn't have the number in memory. He picked the call nonetheless. "Hello?"

"_Mister Stark? It's Naruto Uzumaki."_ That caught him by surprise. He wasn't expecting the boy to call him directly.

"How did you get this number?" He asked.

"_I have a friend who… Knows stuff."_ Tony nodded to no one in particular.

"So… What can I do for you, Naruto? I can call you Naruto, right?"

"_If I can call you Tony… The thing is, Mister Stark… I have a… Well… Let's say a request. Or an offer…"_

"…" Tony took a few seconds of silence, for dramatic pause. "Tell me more."

--

"… Do you think she will get over it?"

"She is strong. I've seen other subjects lose sanity in there." Replied Laura while she walked with Laurie to her room. Laurie sighed.

"Why do these things keep on happening to us?" They stopped when they arrived in front of Laurie's room. She opened the door and turned to Laura, smiling. "Well… I guess I should go to sleep as well."

"Yes." Laura nodded. Laurie then suddenly started rapping her fingers on the door. Laura noticed this. That meant that she was unsure as to say something to her. "What is it?"

"… I was wondering if…" Laurie breathed in and out. "Could you help me train?" Laura blinked at that. She wasn't expecting that kind of question. "I mean… I didn't contribute much to do any actual damage, today… And you seem to know how to fight. So… I wondered…"

"… If you want, I'll… Gladly do it." Replied Laura, getting out of her surprised state with a smile. Laurie smiled back.

"Great! Then, I'll see you tomorrow! Goodnight!" Cheering, Laurie slowly closed the door, leaving a still smiling Laura in the middle of the corridor. She started walking towards her own room… Just to find herself wrapped in a hug as soon as she took the next turn. She was a bit startled at first… But then recognized the scent. She settled for a blush. "Naruto…"

"…" Naruto slowly let her free of the hug… Just to lean down with his head and kiss her. Laura blushed even more, startled by the sudden gesture. It was just a small one, though. He raised his head yet again, looking in her eyes. "We need to talk. Alone. In my room."

"… O-Ok." She replied, blushing even more.

--

Laura didn't know what was wrong with her. She had seen and done many things. Shameless, terrible, frightening things. She had even worked as a hooker. Then, how come just sitting on the bed of a boy in his room while he changed his clothes was making her so nervous? It was the first time in her whole life she felt… That way. Most of the time she had just played with the necklace he had given her. She even jumped when she heard the door of his bathroom open, revealing him now in just a t-shirt and shorts.

"Thanks for waiting." He slowly approached the bed and sat on it. While Laura's heart's pace began to resemble more and more a machine-gun's one… And she became red once more when Naruto grabbed her left hand and began staring straight in her eyes. "Laura… I… I need you to do me a favour…"

"A… A favour?" That's what he called it? A favour? Naruto nodded. Laura blushed. Why was his stare so intense?

"I…" He lowered his head and scratched the back of his head, like he couldn't find the exact words. Not that she blamed him. Asking to a girl to… What was she thinking about?! "Laura, the truth is… I…"

"… You…" She was like a broken disk of various monosyllabic words. Naruto caught the bridge of his nose.

"Alright. The hell with this." He raised his head and got on a serious look. "Laura, I'm not going to be around for a while."

"…" Laura's blush disappeared. It was replaced by surprise and confusion. "What do you mean?"

"I mean… I'm not going anywhere far. But… I won't be around in the school for a while. Because there's something I gotta do." That made Laura even more confused… But she returned to blush when Naruto grasped both of her hands together. "And while I'm gone, I want you… I want you to protect everyone. To take care of Cess, Laurie… Everyone." Laura stared back, confused as to why he would ask her to do something like that. "You're the one I trust the most." That made her blush some more, but not as much as Naruto closing in his face. "So… Do you promise me? Can you promise me?"

"I…" She nodded with her head. "I'll do it." Naruto grinned and let go of her hands and then hugged her tightly.

"Great! You're the best, Laura! I was so worried what you could go and say…" He let go of her and cleared his voice, before starting to imitate her… In a lousy way. "I shouldn't even be born because I'm an emo danger. How can you expect me to protect the ones you love?"

"…" Laura frowned… And reacted on instinct, throwing his own pillow at him. Naruto chuckled at her reaction. Then, Laura thought about something… She had been wrong when she thought that… "Is that all?"

"Eh?" It was Naruto's turn to blink and be confused, this time. He scratched the back of his head. "Well, yes. What did you think I wanted to ask you of?"

"…" There was a rising urge to hurt him dwelling up in Laura's mind. In a non-lethal way. He had a healing factor, after all… But then… It came back to her mind. The conversation she was having with Cessily before the Facility made the café go boom…

"_If you really want to do it that badly, just wait for him to come back to his room and tackle him to the floor the moment he steps inside."_

"… Naruto." Naruto blinked again. "Can you go step outside the room, stay in front of the door five seconds and then step inside again?"

"Ehm… Sure?" Naruto did as told. He walked out of the room and closed the door behind him. He counted. One, two, three, four, five. He opened the door again and closed it behind him. Laura was nowhere in sight, though. "Ehm… Laura? Where did y…" He was interrupted by the best tackle to the ground ever. Football pros would be envious.

--

"I… Think we've seen enough, Uatu."

"Indeed, Stephen." Stephen currently had a guest. Dome-headed guy, like one of his fellow superhumans had called him. Uatu the watcher. He was observing what was happening on earth while keeping company on the fasting Stephen Strange. The sorcerer supreme had chosen neutrality on the matter of the Civil War, even if he greatly disliked how friends had turned on friends. And he had suggested Stephen to observe the recent actions of a certain blonde teen currently living with the X-Men. "I suppose you had a suspect…"

"That once he saw this world how it really is he would start taking such decisions? Yes…" Stephen closed his eyes and started meditating yet again. "But… The boy is still a boy. He still sees everything as black and white. He isn't able to see the various tonality of grey in between. Till he does that… He will never achieve what he wants."

--

"… Good thing you were exhausted and you fell asleep on the 'juicy part', would call it ero-sannin. And good thing I worked on my kawarimi." It was morning. And in Naruto's room, Naruto had just finished taking a shower and getting dressed. He had returned to the room to find a pretty pissed off topless Laura, who was just glaring at him with her arms crossed over her chest. The blonde sweatdropped. "Oh, come on. We didn't get down to anything serious, but… We still made out for like, an hour." Still glaring. He rolled his eyes and threw to her the rest of her clothes. "Just get dressed. My ride will…" Suddenly, a big noise came from outside. Naruto looked through the window and smiled. "My ride is here."

"…" Laura had noticed that Naruto had put all the clothes he had been given in a bag, which he had prepared the evening before. She put back on the clothes he had thrown to her. "So… You're going? But where? And why?"

"…" Naruto picked up the bag and put it over his right shoulder. "Follow me and you'll find out."

--

"Alright, someone tells me what the hell is doing a Quinjet here."

"I don't know, Noriko." The machinery's appearance didn't go unnoticed by anyone. Emma and Cyclops were in the courtyard along with many of the students. Including Cessily and Laurie. Suddenly, the ladder of the vehicle opened, revealing its occupants… Hank Pym and Janet Van Dyne.

"Hey."

"Hello, Emma. Scott."

"Hello, Hank. Janet." Cyclops adjusted his glasses. "Now, I hope you'd like to tell me what you're doing here."

"They're my ride, mr Summers." Everyone. Everyone in the courtyard turned to the source of the voice. That included Laura who was walking beside him. He just stepped forward, waving at the male avenger. "Thanks for coming this early."

"Hold it, hold it, hold it! What do you mean they're your ride?!" The one who reacted first was Surge, surprisingly. She put a hand on his right shoulder and made him turn around. Naruto saw that coming. He turned his head in the direction of Emma, though.

"… Last night I made an agreement with Tony Stark." He simply said. But that 'simple sentence' made everyone's eyes go wide. He had what? "I asked him if I could join the… Heroes Hunting Forces."

"YOU DID WHAT?!" This was Julian. He couldn't believe what he was saying. Emma and Cyclops would have been as upset as the students if Emma hadn't already downloaded Naruto's thoughts from his head. He suddenly grabbed him by the front of his shirt. "Are you fucking crazy?!"

"No, I'm not." Naruto calmly replied, even while Julian kept on holding him by the scarf. "Some, if not most of you, might have issues with the Avengers or with the SRA… But that's not my case. Actually, I can't see what's wrong with it." Julian lost some of his grip at his words. "I'm not from this world… I'm…" He then realized he still hadn't told anyone. "I'm not even a mutant. So, I can't really be an X-Man. I won't be dragging the institute into this."

"W-What?" Julian let go of him, at that. Naruto blinked and scratched the back of his head.

"Ah, right. I didn't tell you! I haven't got time!" He laughed. He carefree laughed… While everyone was shocked, frightened… "You see, it seems I'm not a mutant. I'm… Another race altogether. So, sooner or later, I suppose I should have left eventually."

"W-What the hell are you saying?" Julian continued. "We… After all the shit we've been through…"

"Of course we're friends. That's another of the reasons I'm going." Naruto continued, with now a serious expression of his face. "What happened to Cessily… That same kind of shit… Has been going on for long. Too long. Just ask Laura. Or mister Logan. That means that this whole superhero thing wasn't working well before, figures now." Cessily felt her heart jump at that. "So, I think: the sooner this whole idiotic war ends, the sooner they can go back to focus on more important matters… Only, this time… A bit more seriously. I don't want things like that… Stamford, the Facility… To happen ever, ever again. To anyone. So, I'm going."

"…" Cess was the first one to finally comprehend what had gone wrong with his head… Nothing. It was just like him. Just like Naruto. She smiled. "Well, I expect to see you on the news with Captain America's shield in your hand… Even if I don't completely agree with that." Everyone started understanding too, one by one. What they didn't understand was why he agreed with the SRA. But then again, he already was registered, by now. And going illegal… Would have prevented him from coming back there. Because he was going to come back. That much they knew. Everyone started saluting him. Highfives, hugs, punches, 'godspeed'… While Emma and Cyclops talked telepathically.

_I didn't expect him to be this mature…_

_Or this naïve, Scott. At the same time… He just hasn't realized it yet._ Emma had read Naruto's thoughts… And she was sure that sooner or later Naruto would be in for a big, bad, surprise. Even bigger than being kissed by Cessily first and Laura later right in front of everyone. After shrugging the blush off, he started walking towards the quinjet. He waved his hands at Cyclops and Emma while he walked. Then… Santo realized something. Yes, Santo.

"Hey, man! Wait a minute!" Naruto stopped on his tracks and turned around. "You said you've made an agreement with Iron-Man! What was your end of the deal?!"

"Ah… Right. To tell the truth, it was a really strange condition…" Naruto scratched the back of his head, before answering. Could it even be called a condition? "He said… That if I wanted to become a member of the heroes hunting forces, I would have to officially join the Mighty Avengers."

"…" Silence. Emma and Scott plugged their ears. Three. Two. One. "WHAT?!"

_Continue…_

_In the next chapter…_

Civil. War. Enough was said. Stay tuned.

**Christmas Special**

"There… A little more to the right… Perfect!" As opposed as to one would think, putting the star on top of it is the hardest part of making a Christmas tree. So much that it needs someone putting it on top of it and another one observing the action from the ground. In this case, Julian with his telekinesis and Laurie. "Looks great, Julian."

"I am great." Simply replied the proud telekinetic, a smile on his face.

"Watch out." Simply said Layla from her sitting position on the couch while turning another page of her book. Laurie blinked till… She noticed that they may have put too many decorations on the tree, which began to fall towards her.

"AAAAAAAAAH!" She shielded her head with her metallic hand… Till she noticed that the tree wasn't moving anymore.

"I'd suggest removing the green lights." Laurie blinked and sighed in relief, turning around.

"Thanks, miss Frost."

"What are you doing?" Naruto was doing the last thing in the long list of chores for decorating the Xavier's manor. Putting mistletoe under every door of the place. He smiled and dispelled the clone he was carrying over his shoulders before replying.

"It's a Christmas tradition. If two people stop under the mistletoe, they have to kiss."

"Ah." Laura observed the mistletoe for a few seconds and then Naruto again. The blonde blinked. "We're not moving." Naruto sweatdropped while Laura leaned her head forward closing her eyes.

"You… Still have to work on being romantic…"

"Mine!" Suddenly, Cess shapeshifted between the two and stole the kiss from Naruto, much to the blonde's blushing and Laura's blinking, suddenly mutate into frowning when Cessily shapeshifted away while sticking her tongue out. "Sorry! It was just too tempting!"

"Hmmm…" Suddenly, Layla closed her book and turned to… You. "While Naruto tried to persuade Laura that Cessily was just joking and that they are still standing under the mistletoe, I proceed to wish you all a merry Christmas and a happy new year. You'll have to wait for January for the next chapter. Yes, we know we left you with one hell of a cliffhanger, but that's how it works. Now, we will proceed to answer some of the most obvious question that have probably made their way into your heads during the course of the story. Laurie?"

"I'm here, I'm here, just one moment…" Laurie sat on the couch and picked out a paper from her right pocket, unfolding it in her hands. "Alright. The first obvious question is probably: Will Naruto ever go back to his world? If yes, when?"

"Good question. The answer is, of course, yes. Naruto will eventually go back to his world, but this will happen much, much later in the storyline of this fanfiction. And before that, sorry to say this, but there will not be appearance of Naruto characters… Well, sorta."

"Good work with leaving enigmatic clues." Laurie nodded. "Second question. Which side will Naruto take in the Civil War? This has been asked so many times, but the start of the answer has been posted in the chapter you've just read." She lowered her gaze. "Third question. Is this going to be an harem fic? And how many girls will it comprehend? Pervy question."

"Well, that question is still in maybe… Mainly because of me." Layla raised her hand. "As other things, it's top secret."

"Next question. How long will this fic be?"

"You'll have a lot to read. Meinos plans to cover at least Secret Invasion. At least, because who knows which other crossovers will be out by the time he's done writing that. And let's not forget that he likes to include arcs from single comic series."

"Alright. This is the last one, since Meinos has to go back to unwrapping his brand new Guitar Hero game and Wireless set for the Xbox 360." Laurie lowered her eyes towards the end of the paper. "In one of the first chapters, Layla mentioned that Naruto is going to go to jail in the future. What for?"

"Mass murder." Laurie blanked and turned towards Layla with horror on her face. "No further spoilers. And a deus ex machina alias the Cuckoos getting drunk will delete the thing from your memory later on, Laurie."

"O-Ok… Wah!"

"Watch out!" Layla moved out of the way just as Naruto fell on top of Laurie cause he got pushed out of the way by a rushing Santo who was carrying the beers for the party. The two almost made their nose touch. They both blushed almost immediately. "Ehm, sorry…"

"N-No problem… Uh?"

"Wh…" Naruto and Laurie raised their heads… And sweatdropped and blushed even more. Layla was holding mistletoe over their heads. "LAYLA!"

"Hmmm… Maybe this was a bit of a spoiler too? Well, Merry Christmas everyone."

"And a happy new yeaaaaaaaaaaar…"

"Noriko, singing Christmas carols just doesn't suit you…"


	17. Civil War I

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto nor Marvel… MEINOS SMASH.

Thanks to all my wonderful readers and reviewers! I've reached quote 400 reviews! Yahoooooooo!

**No Reading**

**Chapter15: Welcome to the ****Team**

"Naruto. It's nice to have you here again."

"Especially because that means you have someone who can multiply by 5000 in the team, hn?" Naruto stepped down the last piece of the ladder with a little jump. This time he was received just by Tony Stark. No heavily equipped soldiers. Just Iron-Man. The man just smiled and placed a hand on his back.

"That too, yes." He started pushing him forward, so that he would follow him through the halls of the tower. "Come with me. I'll have to explain you a lot of things, including what are our plans for you in the next days."

"That's what I wanted to ask. I mean…" Naruto scratched the underside of his chin in a thoughtful manner, since he still couldn't understand what was with Tony's 'request'. "What kind of condition is 'joining officially the Avengers'? One of my friends back at the school was about to strangle me out of envy…"

"Hmmm… I suppose you didn't have much time to watch television, in the past couple of days." Naruto blinked while Tony brought him to the 'living room' of the avengers. Tony pointed at the big couch. He guessed the older man wanted him to sit. He complied while Tony turned on the TV. It was a registration of… The news? "Watch. And listen."

"…" Naruto focused. The news were being told by a pretty woman in her middle thirties who suddenly sent the latest report online… He blinked. It was about him and the robot. The images were of him slamming the 'Kyuubi hammer' on the robots head, making him collapse on the spot without destroying any buildings.

"_Registered superheroes can do it better? Apparently so, as has been demonstrated this day. A doombot has been taken down in less than five minutes by only two superheroes: Spider-Man, member of the avengers, and a new underage hero, who has been identified as Militia, a mutant member of the X-Men who had helped greatly with the emergency in Stamford two months ago. Unlike other heroes of his age, this teen has demonstrated a great sense of responsibility and moderation, taking out the menace while the least damage possible came to the surrounding buildings, while his 'clones' helped the authorities to evacuate the nearby zone."_

The clip ended, and Naruto turned to Tony. "That's all?" Stark shook his head and took from Jarvis' hands the remote he had brought him, with a whispered 'Thank you, Jarvis'. He skipped to another registration. It looked like some kind of talk show.

"_Teenage superhero, multiplies, takes down the bot in one shot, yaddayaddayadda… I thought the purpose of this whole SRA was to avoid blondes on sugar-high going around playing heroes. Come on, he didn't even have a costume on!"_

"Hey! I'm not on sugar-high!" Protested Naruto, even if he knew the man on the screen couldn't hear him. The other man was quick to reply.

"_As always, you just can't think outside the box. The purpose of the super-registration act is not to __avoid superheroes doing their jobs. It's to regulate their activity and let just the ones who are properly trained and responsible be out there swinging around. This Militia has destroyed that robot with just one hit without making it fall on the nearby buildings and even helped with the evacuation at the same time. What did you want him to do? Wipe the floor from the debris?"_

"_I just don't think underage mutants should go around without control…"_

"_Oh, would you stop it, you xenophobe pig?! Maybe you could have used the 'mutant' thing before this whole mess. But now every meta-human is in the same boat as the mutants! They do something wrong, they get hunted down! Will you let it go and admit that mutants are not the spawn of devil?! Or are you another one of those Stryker cock-s…"_

"This is where it gets violent. I just registered it for amusement." Tony turned off the screen and then walked in front of Naruto, crossing his arms over his chest. "So?"

"Well… I mean… I guess that now I know that I got praised for what I did and that there are people who just can't seem to shut up about it." Naruto said. Tony nodded.

"Exactly. That's what I wanted you to notice. They can't shut up about it." Tony started to walk again, and Naruto guessed he was to follow him. Before he could even try to pick up his bag again, though, he noticed Jarvis had already picked it up. He sweatdropped. Efficient… He got up from the couch nonetheless and followed Tony. He noticed that the more they walked, the more technologically advanced became the corridors. They were probably heading towards another of their labs. "The point is, Naruto, we fight this on two fronts. The first one is the front where we fight against our own friends."

"To punch into their heads that the SRA is needed. Yep." Commented the ninja. Tony nodded, while he put a hand on a side of the wall and opened the… Glass, maybe, door that was blocking their path.

"Exactly. The other part is about public acceptance." From the sounds he was hearing, he was sure that they were now entering a lab. "It's understandable that, if there are superheroes opposing it, there are of course masses doing the same. To make the SRA get accepted, we have to influence the most people possible. We have to show them that we are doing the right thing by impressing them."

"Ahhh… That's why you have Ms Marvel on the team, then." That earned a chuckle from the invincible Iron-Man.

"That too. Don't tell that in front of herself or she's going to hurt you. But you've got the point." They had arrived in the lab… Well, this one looked more like the danger room. There was a big glass panels showing another, bigger room with a few meters of difference in height to the control panels. Reed was there, waiting for Naruto and Tony. "Hi, Reed."

"Hi, Tony. Shall we proceed?" Tony walked Naruto to the elevator to the lower room. Naruto guessed it was another test.

"You see, we eldest heroes can 'impress' most of the older generations, but what about teenagers? Teens? We don't have anyone that they can identify themselves with. No one they can have as an idol, a support. The Young Avengers, unfortunately, all joined Cap in the anti-registration side." That made Naruto blink while he stepped into the elevator.

"So, basically… You want me in your team to turn me into some kind of fangirls' bait?" Tony smiled.

"Something like that. Other than the fact that you're very strong, of course. And that's what we want to test right now." Tony made the door close and Naruto felt the elevator moving. In a few seconds, it opened behind him, revealing the room he was seeing from the control room. He began to hear Reed talking into a mic from the speakers in the room.

"_Naruto, we're here today because, while we have run every possible test on your physiology, we still don't know much about the arcane power that you summon from time to time."_ Naruto immediately felt uneasy about it. He didn't want to talk much about having a demon in his stomach. This didn't go unnoticed by Reed and Tony. Not that Naruto could know it. Like he couldn't know that Tony had already had a little chat with Stephen some time before. _"What can you tell us about it?"_

"Let's say that…" Naruto thought very well about his words. He didn't want to let out anything but the necessary. He pulled up his sleeve and showed them the armband. "The very day I was born, they sealed in my body a great power, which I tap into from time to time. At first the process was ruled by my emotions, but…" He raised his uncovered arm to the sky. "When I came here, Doctor Strange gave me this to keep it under control. Basically, I have nine levels of power. I have currently tried till the fourth level, and I should never use the ninth because there's a chance I could lose completely control of it… And of my body."

"_Alright. Then, we will test you till this fourth level. We want to know how strong you are till now."_ Suddenly, the floor opened and from it appeared what seemed like a simple slab of metal. _"We know that you can use that energy to enhance your physical attributes. We want you to reach that level and then punch this slab."_

"Uhmmm… Alright." Naruto did as told and turned the fourth bracelet.

--

"Now… Try to hit me."

"B-But…"

"Don't worry. I have a healing factor. Hit my shoulder."

"…" Laurie took a step back… And then pushed her bionic arm forward, punching Laura in the left shoulder. An awful noise let itself heard in the room as Laura's shoulder dislocated. Laurie immediately stuck out her tongue as a sign of disgusts. "Ack, Laura…"

"You held back." Laura nonchalantly put the shoulder back in place, earning another sound of disgust from the blonde. "That arm should be able to punch through concrete with no trouble. And other than that, you don't know how to fight much. You don't even know how to punch correctly."

"I'm sorry… I guess I neglected the martial arts lessons. Eheheheh…" Laurie joked, rubbing the back of her head. Laura nodded.

"I'd suggest if you learned a martial art soon and practiced daily. I think that Krav Maga would be suitable, for a starter. For now, I'll teach you some basic moves. Step in this position." Laurie nodded and mimicked Laura's moves. She clenched both her hands into fists and stretched the left arm while flexing the right one near her right side, the right fist upside down. "The secret is rotation. You don't punch with the fist…"

"You punch with the whole body. Save us. Laura is getting zen on us!" The two girls were interrupted by a third female voice. They turned around to see Noriko and David entering the danger room. "It's nice to see you up and well, Laurie."

"Well, I guess I slept enough, hn? Time to train a little." Saying that, Laurie clenched her metallic fist in front of her body. Noriko and David exchanged a glance and nodded to each other. The blonde noticed this and blinked. "What is it?"

"Well, long story short, Cyclops gave us permission to manage the team how we see it better. That means…" Started Noriko.

"Adding new members to the team." Laurie's eyes widened.

"You serious? I mean, I…"

"You've gotten some guts while you were in coma, it seems. You went to save Cess without a second thought and from what Laura has told us, you've handled it pretty well."

"Except for the killing part." Cut Laura.

"Especially for the killing part." Continued David. "So… If you want… What do you say? Ready to put your life at risk again to defend the planet and mutant-kind in particular?"

"…" Laurie thought about it for a while… And then she decided that the answer would be better 'looking' with a grin on her face. "Why the hell not?"

--

"Jarvis? You there?"

"Here and with a cup of your favourite raspberry tea, miss Danvers."

"I love you so much." It was incredible how Jarvis seemed to always know the right thing to prepare or to do at the right time. Like, he knew what each of the avengers liked the most and he seemed to always be aware of their return. Not that Carol complained or questioned him. She just loved her tea so much. Even at 10:30 AM. "Hmmm… So good." She enjoyed her personal liquid bliss for a few seconds. "So? What news? I think I saw a quinjet leave early in the morning."

"It went to pick up the newest addition to your team, miss Danvers." That made her blink. A new addition to the team? Jarvis just pointed in the direction of the labs. "Mister Stark and Mister Reed brought him to the training room. To test him, I suppose."

"Do you know w…" Suddenly a very loud noise came from the direction Jarvis had just pointed to. Carol couldn't identify it immediately. "Hmmm… I guess I'll check on it personally. Thanks, Jarvis." Carol took her cup with her and walked down the corridor, till she reached the training room, where an over-excited Reed Richards and an intrigued Tony Stark were observing someone in the training room. "Hey, Tony. What's with what Jarvis said to me? A new member of the team?"

"We're currently testing him… And he seems to be doing pretty good." Replied Tony. Carol just approached the glass so that she could see better… And her eyes went wide. She almost spilled her tea. For two reasons. First, because the 'newest member' was the brat Tony had asked to run tests on just last week. Second, because in the same room as him there was a slab of steel 7 centimetres thick with a hole in it of a meter of diameter. "That was good, Naruto. We pretty much have an idea of how much you power up. Come up."

"_Coming!"_ The cheerful boy replied from the room and started walking towards the elevator. Carol put down her tea and started to do what she wanted to do. Freak out.

"Tony, is this some kind of joke?! A teenager among the avengers?!"

"He's almost seventeen, actually. Ah, right. We'll have to make him some kind of I.D. Hmmm…" Carol covered her face while Tony told Reed in which directory he had stored all the data.

"Alright. A 17 Years old avenger. That's still underage." She said sighing, while stealing a glance in the direction of the busted up slab in the room below… And was that another one reduced to a ball? She groaned. "But I suppose you know what you're doing, Tony. You're putting too much effort into this to just screw up."

"Man, that was fun! Can… Oh, miss… Carol, right?" Naruto stepped out of the elevator and approached the two adults with a smile on her face, and he extended his right hand for her to shake. "It's nice to see you again."

"It's nice to see you again too… Militia." She shook his hand and Naruto smiled.

"Just call me Naruto. We're now… Team-Mates, right?" Carol rolled her eyes at that. Indeed they were. And she still couldn't put a finger on it.

"Well, you're not officially an avenger yet. We still need two fundamental things. Follow me." Reed got up from his chair and the three started following Tony to the other lab. "The first thing is make the decision public knowledge to the public. For that, we have organized a press conference for this evening."

"Eh?! A…" Naruto processed through his mind every meaning of that particular combination of words… "A PRESS CONFERENCE?! THIS EVENING?!"

"Oh, yes. You're going to talk in front of the whole United States of A, Naruto. But before that, much is to be done. The first thing, we'll have to make you learn your speech." Naruto felt like puking on the spot. He was going to be talking live in front of half a billion people?! "But first of all… There was one thing that TV commentator was right about." Naruto's attention was caught by that. That fat-ass was right on something? Tony lead them to another part of the lab, where in a tub was floating a… A person? No, it was… Clothing. "You don't have a costume. And the data we've just collected will help us complete this one we've been working on for you."

"…" Naruto observed the still colourless clothes, along with Ms Marvel. Carol had a feeling… She didn't know why, but those things gave her… A sense of De Ja Vu. The younger blond just said… "They look pretty cool."

--

"Poker. Queens. You lose again."

"H-How the hell?!" Hawkeye indeed. Poor Wiccan and Hulkling never stood a chance. And it seemed like the girl had some kind of vicious liking in winning at Strip Poker against gay boys. Teddy just groaned. "There go my pants…"

"If you lose one more time you got to change into a man of my choice." Ah, so that's where she was going with the whole thing. Devious little devil…

"As much as I love seeing the two lovebirds squirm in desperation, shouldn't we, like… Be on monitor duty?" Speed. Just went back from the nearest Starbucks.

"It's pretty useless, since Vision can broadcast every transmission in the world at the same time." Replied Wiccan, observing the android, interlaced with the nearby screens.

"Indeed. I have just managed to catch a phone call from Tony Stark to the press office of the Avengers." That caught the attention of everyone. Including Patriot and Stature. "He confirmed a press conference for this evening."

"Another one? Who is he going to unmask, this time?" Tommy distributed to everyone his own beverage. And he still couldn't understand who in his right mind could like a moccaccino with mint.

"That is not the case. The press conference is about the introduction of their newest member." That caught everyone's attention. Even Hawkeye's, no matter that right now Teddy was morphed into Peter Parker in just his boxers. "But there's something strange. I've never managed to intercept the private lines of the Avengers."

"So?" Stature asked. She guessed it was just luck. Patriot knew better.

"No. I think that… He wants us to know about this conference. Beforehand."

--

"Carol, please…"

"I can't believe you! I-I thought the design looked somewhat familiar, on him… But you used the same colours!" Difficult to bear with the fact that a super-human teen is wearing the colours of a super-hero. And the mask was basically identical. One that you admired way long before you got your own powers. One who had died recently in a way that wasn't superhero like at all. "That is what you're doing, Tony?! Using all the means you can to turn this boy in some kind of… Of… Of media bait?!"

"Basically… Yes." Carol's eyes went wide. He had the gall to reply positively? He… "Carol, maybe you don't understand that this is really a war. And even if I made the suit black and orange like he wanted, it wouldn't have made a difference."

"How so?" She still wasn't looking at him directly.

"He's an alien who arrived here by accident but took upon himself to help us make this world a safer place. He's got long blonde hair and he controls his powers with an arm-band." Carol bit her lower lip hearing that. "That's enough similarities for me. If it's already there, boasting it will just make it easier for the crowd to take a liking to him. That's all."

"… I see your point, but…" Carol turned to Tony, sighing. "Still… I don't have to like this."

"Fair enough. That's what I expected from you, Carol. You're a professional." Ms Marvel just rolled her eyes. Flattery, now? But she guessed it had some effect. Indeed, she was a professional. And Tony's plan made perfect sense, so, she just would have to leave petty personal feelings outside. The man just turned to Naruto, who had just put on the costume, in the middle of the training room once again. First the full body suit, from ankle to mid-bicep. Then the fingerless gloves, the belt, the fingerless gloves and that strange device that he put on his free fore-arm. It was very light, but what was its purpose? Then the boots and the jacket. And finally, the mask. Incredible how the 'holes' for the eyes were filled with white but he could see everything as clear as day. And even if it was a jacket, he had no problems in moving at all. Like he wasn't wearing anything. "How is it, Naruto?"

"_Incredibly light. It's like I'm naked. I can move as much as I can.__ And I can even rotate the bracelets through the sleeve."_ To demonstrate that, Naruto started mocking martial artists all around the world and then did a little somersault, grinning.

"Good. Now, we'll give it its final run test while I tell you all its functions."

--

"_It's made out of heat-resistant __liquid Kevlar nano-fiber that can resist small-caliber bullets. The jacket can resist to a shotgun round."_ Naruto whistled at that. No bullets coming through him anymore. No, sir. _"Built-In fire, police and emergency scanner. That means you can always know where's the nearest civilian good guy is."_

"Thanks for the clear up." Guess Emma didn't implant everything in his brain.

"_The mask gives you audio and video amplifications, including infrared and ultraviolet, and a shortwave microwave GPS system. Everything controlled by a computerized system contained in your chestpiece."_

"Chestpiece…" Naruto brought his hands up to his chest… And he guessed that was what Tony meant. "You mean the M?"

"_Exactly. Also, the suit's nano-fiber can… Let's say change shape and colour. Just think about not wanting to wear it or something else you want to wear…"_ Tony blinked. Once. Twice. Three times. _"Naruto, for the love of god, drop the Ms Marvel costume and go back to the normal one."_

"Ehm, sorry…" Naruto did as told. He guessed it was a bad joke.

"_Good. Now, we'll run your other optionals. First thing, the knives strapped to your belts."_ Naruto took a hold of said weapons. They had a brown handle made of something that looked like shiny plastic, but god knew what they were made of. The blade, double-edged, was light grey. The he noticed something, and he was trying to understand how could they stay attacked to the belt without anything to hold them up. Some kind of magnet? _"The blades are made of a special alloy of Vibranium and Adamantium, making it the hardest metal ever conceived. And in the case someone manages to break one of them, it will release a medium-sized explosion. They're optimal hand-to-hand weapons and are light enough to be thrown as well. They cut easily through everything with enough force applied."_

"Understood." He rotated them a bit in his hands, and they were really light as a feather. He then put them back in place. And then he raised his sleeve. "What about this?"

"_I was going there. That's a shaped-energy projector."_ Tony observed his face. It was telling him 'Alright. Now try saying it like you're talking to a mere mortal'. _"It shoots projectiles of energy. I made it so that you could do it like you were launching shurikens."_

"For real?" Naruto flexed his arm, clenching his hand and fingers like he was holding a set of shuriken, and then swung his arm. From the sleeve got launched ten… Light beacons, that hit the wall on the other side of the room and generated a little explosion. "Wow!"

"_That's the basic__ projectile. It has the power of a banger. You can increase the power just by thinking. There are nine other levels of power. But the more powerful, the less the number of projectiles. The last level launches a single projectile with the power of an anti-tank grenade."_

"Ooook… I hope I never have to use that." Naruto brought his arm back down and turned his head to where Tony and Reed were. "That's all?"

"_Just one more thing. Jump as high as you can and then think about yourself flying."_

"Hmmm…" Naruto did as told. He jumped as high as he could and he then thought about flying… There was a strange sound, like a flame had just burst out. "What the… Eh?!" Naruto looked down. He wasn't going down as fast as he expected himself too. He was going down a lot more slowly… And when he looked at his boots he understood why. There was… Air going out of the soles of his boots. Instead of falling, it was like he was slowly hovering to the ground. He landed slowly and safely. "What the?"

"_Your boots release compressed air shots that can slow down your falls from 200 meters down. Fall from higher than that, you'll have to get creative. That's all. Practice a little, now."_

--

Tony turned off the microphone and he remembered he had an appointment with 30 of Naruto's clones to prepare the speech for the conference… But he didn't expect his favourite web-swinger to suddenly appear in front of him upside-down, with a pretty pissed-off face.

"… Yes, Peter?"

"You gave him rocket boots…" Tony rolled his eyes. "Peter wants rocket boots. Or Peter starts smashing."

"Peter…"

--

"A conference, you say…"

"That's what the Vision said, Captain." Replied Patriot. He had been at a… Certain odds with the war hero, but you could never talk to him without having an ounce of respect in your heart for him. "So… Any idea why he would let use intercept that single call? Willingly?"

"…" Cap took off his mask and put it on the table in front of him. He the crossed hands on the very same table. "Because… He wants to be sure that I see it." He turned to Patriot again. "Did you manage to catch the hour? We know the channel."

"He said at 8 PM… It's 7:30, right now."

"…" He turned to the screen where Vision was standing. "Then let's wait… What do you want to show me, Tony?"

--

"Think you're ready?"

"Y-Yes… But…" Naruto was looking down below. The press conference's location was the outside of the Stark Tower. "Do I really have to do that flashy entrance?"

"That's a lesson that teach at the Xavier's too, Naruto. Theatricals." Tony pushed him onward to make him better observe the crowd of people and press journalists. "They can become a powerful weapon, and this is but one of its uses. You need to make a great first impression."

"…" Naruto sighed heavily. "Alright, alright… I just wish I had had more time to try it… You damn cheat." Tony chuckled and patted the blonde on his back once more.

"I'll wait for you down… Stairs. We're on in five minutes. Get the timing right."

"Don't worry. I have no rush to turn into a puddle of blood, flesh and bones…" Even if he had a healing factor. And since it would also be broadcasted live… He blinked and slapped his own forehead. He had almost forgot. He picked up his phone from his right pocket. _I suppose that if I don't tell them about this they will never forgive me…_

--

"Hmmm… Poison Ivy?"

"I want a different name. Not a villain name…" Snorted Laurie. She and David had been going through the difficult path of finding her a new codename. "And why does it have to be a flower? To narrow it down?"

"To at least have a bit of similarity with the previous one. Your powers work through someone's sense of smell, and… I mean, these are the names Dani gave us." Even if it was an explanation, it sounded more like an admonishment. Laurie sighed.

"I know, but… I just want to cut everything with what I was before, you know. Can you allow me this, David?"

"…" It was David's turn to sigh. What could he say about that? "What about Lymantria?"

"That's better. What is it?" While David explained to Laurie that it was the name of a moth who was particularly proficient in using pheromones, Laura and Cessily were having a heated fight…

"Got any threes?"

"Go fish."

"Damn." Cessily frowned. She couldn't believe that Laura was this good at the game while she said that that was the first time she played. She was thinking about the next move when… "Uh?" Her cellphone vibrated. She picked it up… And brightened. "Hey. It's a message fro Naruto."

"What does it say?" Asked Laura, taking a pause from her own thinking as well.

"It says… To turn on the TV on the CNN… I guess he's on TV." She turned to Santo, who was watching it sprawled on the couch. "Santo, can you…"

"On it, on it… The damn lucky bastard…" Santo turned on the CNN while the other mutants in the room approached the Television. For now, all they could see was a bunch of people… Oh, Tony Stark was walking on top of the 'stage', as in, the stairs in front of the Stark Tower.

--

"Who do you think he's unmasking this time?"

"Don't know. I think he's kind out of candidates for 'unmasking', right now. I think it's something else."

"It better be something good. I lost my wife's special stew to be here."

Tony was talking with his assistant, making sure that everything was alright. He then looked at his watch. It was time. He then tapped the mic lightly, to test its functionality and to warn the various journalists that he was about to talk, and such, silence was needed. In a few seconds, the whole crowd was silent.

"Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for coming here on such short notice. And thanks to the American people for being witnesses to this event." He started, he then took a brief second of pause. "I know that you probably expected another registered superhero unmasking himself in front of the country, but… That's not the case. Or better, we have something a bit different for you, this time." That got the press' attention. Something different? What could it be? Tony took some seconds of silence to let the anticipation grow a little.

In the meanwhile, 180 meters higher, a blonde acknowledged that as being the signal. He started to prepare, putting some distance between the balcony's edge and himself, getting ready to run.

"Our world is not unfamiliar with beings from other timelines or outer space or other dimensions who decide to settle here on our planet and protect it alongside us humans, becoming new heroes for us all. But…" Naruto flexes on his legs. "It is the first time that someone so… Particular comes to us. A hero that has first showed himself to the world in an act of great humanity." Naruto swallowed and readied himself. "Someone who has decided to support the SRA fully and is here today to voice and explain his choice. The newest member of the Avengers."

"Here goes nothing." Naruto jumped off the building just as Tony raised his head up, followed by the whole crowd. There were a couple of female shrieks from the crowd, but nothing much. In New York they were used to much worse. _Alright. Flip, flip, flip and then…_ Naruto was doing air acrobatics, basically, flipping in air to diminish his speed and at the same time impress the public, even if Spider-Man would still call him an amateur. He had almost landed when he suddenly disappeared in mid-air, and reappeared on the floor just behind the stool with the various mic he was going to talk into. He slowly got back up and took in his hands the paper he had just switched himself with, under the surprised stares of the crowd. Teleport, maybe? And guess what, the 'piece of paper' was a reminder for his speech, in case he forgot about it. Naruto breathed in and out, without making anyone notice. "Good evening."

--

"It's him…" Said Cessily, a bit in awe.

"Wow. Nice new costume." That was Julian.

--

"… I've already seen that boy." Commented Cap at the sudden appearance of Naruto. Hulkling's eyes widened. The colours, the hair, the mask…

"… He… He looks like…"

"Your father?" Replied Wiccan.

--

"Isn't that Captain Marvel?"

"Nah, it's too young. And that one died years ago." The little girl just kept on observing the press conference in TV. He had sent her a message saying that he would appear in TV. Good thing her parents had a vehement interest in watching CNN.

--

"You know me already as Militia, a member of the X-Men. I was the superhuman who had more than two thousand copies of himself running around Stamford." Pause. Tony had instructed him well. Let them have time to remember and place ideas old and new into their minds. "You know things about me, but there are a lot of things that you do not know. And that's why I am here today. To let you know my intentions… And my identity." Naruto slowly brought his hands to his face, and slowly slipped off his mask, from below pulling it up over his hair. He shook his head from side to side once to adjust his hair. He didn't understand why Tony suggested to him to do it specifically. He then moved his head again and looked forward. "My name is Naruto Uzumaki. I'm a mutant and I come from another plane of existence."

--

"…" Steve Rogers kept on observing the television without making further voiced comments, but his mind was working at full gear. That was the boy who he had met at Stamford that Tony was 'curious' about. _Tony has persuaded him to join the registration side? But the boy didn't seem one so easy to persuade…_

--

"As I said, there are things you don't know about me. The most pressing is why I'm supporting the SRA. There's a simple answer to that. On my world, we have a situation with super-humans similar to what is in this world. Only that… Our own ones have been put into organizations long ago." That caused some murmurs from the crowd, for a few seconds. It took some seconds for the words to sink in, even for trained professionals. "In my world, people who volunteer to use their powers are trained and tested since a young age. Only after they are deemed responsible and competent enough they are allowed to use them… Under proper control, because they get integrated into an organization that keeps track of their accomplishments and missions. Also, it's a rule that they are not allowed to act alone at the beginning of their career. They are placed into teams, under the guidance of an older super-human till they pass other exams to gain first the right to command, and then the right to act alone. And if they go out of their way and break rules, they are punished according to the gravity of their infraction." More seconds of murmurs. Now, Tony had told him to suddenly interrupt it.

"But it's not just because I have seen something similar to the SRA that I support. I'm firmly convinced that this world needs it." That silenced them alright. Naruto continued. "I've been here close to… Three months. In this little time I've met many people and seen much. I've met people of incredible sense of responsibility and kindness, but at the same time I've met malicious people who take great pleasure in hurting others."

--

"_I have seen __acts of great heroism and self-sacrifice, and I've seen acts of violence and cruelty between other people out of fear, prejudice… And twisted desires and morals, or lack of them."_

"Indeed. Later they lacked something else, though." Julian snickered. With one purifier, Laura's claw aim had been a tad too low.

--

"This world has enough problems already. But instead of seeing heroes trying to create answers to those problems… They create new ones. I don't blame people for fighting for what they believe in, but… If the price to pay is further chaos… And… A needless fight that distracts us from what we really should do… Protect people…" Naruto lowered his head and bit his lower lip. Tony had told him to 'feign anger'. But that was genuine. He just had to think about what had happened to Cessily and that all the Avengers had done was give them information because they were occupied with other matters. He raised his head again, anger and determination in his eyes, his hands gripping the sides of the stool. "Well, Captain America better get ready, because we're going to send his little revolution to hell as soon as possible."

Tony mentally nodded. He had left the last sentence to him, giving him instructions. Direct attack to Captain America's actions, but not to his person. Now, the final straw.

"I've been her for so little time, but I'm already tired. I'm tired of seeing people suffer. I'm tired of seeing fights for something trivial. And even if it happened to me just once, I'm sick tired of seeing children asking me 'Why?' when faced with senseless destruction and murder, finding me unable to answer." That made the crowd silent for a few seconds. "If this world has to change, well… The first step is to convince those who refuse to change that it is needed. And sadly, that includes a part of the superhuman community… Thanks for your attention, and for your patience."

"Anyone got questions for Militia?" Said Tony, knowing perfectly that Naruto couldn't wait to get out of there. The blonde immediately felt screwed.

--

"Hmmm… Nice speech."

"When you have Tony Stark that works on it with you, it's no surprise, I suppose…" Julian stretched his back and arms on the couch. "What do you think ab… Cessily?"

"…" Cessily found herself in quite a predicament. You see, Naruto had brought with him some germs from his world. As in, the germs of oriental behaviour. Specifically, girly ones. Don't ask how or why he came covered in those. The point is, these germs have started affecting our world. And their first victim has been Cessily. While other fans of Naruto at his 'hair-move' have just swooned and fallen in love, she found herself drooling mercury on the floor. And the new outfit fit him like a glove. Laura and Laurie waved their hands in front of her face. No reaction.

"I think Naruto broke her." Stated Laurie, rubbing the back of her head laughing. Then, she blinked and looked at her own hand she had just used in that gesture. "Since when did I start doing that?"

--

"Eh. And here I believed the Hulk was back in town or something… That's just a pretty face."

"Speed…" The grey haired young avenger flinched at the sudden serious tone Captain America had put to use. "Do you really think Tony would put into his own team, the one representing his whole side, someone who's just good to the media? To Tony that's a plus, not a qualification."

"Ehm… Right. Sorry, I guess my brain kinda disconnected for a moment…" Even the excuse was a joke. Wiccan rolled his eyes. That was his brother alright.

"…" Steve Rogers, in the meanwhile, was deep in thought. It seemed that Tony had gotten another ally. Only… Why that boy, out of everyone else? Getting in the team an underage superhero was a risky move. So that meant that the boy was a very valuable piece on his side of the chessboard. He could see why regarding the impact on the media and the mass… But it was an incognita when it came to real combat. Of the boy he just knew that he was able to multiply himself and that he had a certain grade of super-human abilities regarding its physical prowess. But the footage that Vision was currently showing him, regarding his swift defeat of a Doombot, made him a little worried. It seemed that he had some kind of energy manipulation ability… "Vision, analyze the fight's footage and try to find everything you can about Militia's fighting style."

"Yes, sir." The android began to put all his sensors and mechanisms to use to discover whatever he could from the news' footage about their newest adversary, while Steve got up from his chair and started walking away.

"Captain…" He slowed down when Patriot called out for him, enough for him to talk to him. "Do you think we need to worry about him?"

"You need to worry about each and every one of your opponents on a battlefield, Patriot. It's just a matter of worrying more and less…" He stopped and turned around, observing the screen where Naruto was being submerged by questions. That naïve blonde teen who hid so many things… And one of those was power. "And this boy… Could seriously be in the 'more' part of the scale."

--

"Don't EVER do that again!" One of the other things that Naruto hid… Well, not much, was his short temper. Tony just smiled at the enraged boy. Enraged because the invincible Iron Man had kept him there as a bait for the journalists for about an hour or so. "I felt like the whole world had his attention on me! I mean, I like the attention, but all those questions!!! Some of them didn't even… I mean, what kind of journalist would ask me if I was married?!"

"Gossip magazines are news too, Naruto… You wouldn't believe how much they help the cause of popularity. Just ask Jennifer or Carol." Naruto groaned. It seemed like the almighty Tony Stark was bent on just shrugging off everything he was going to say.

"I surrender, boss… You win." Tony chuckled while Naruto let himself fall down on his back. "So… Wanted to talk to me?"

"Of course. Well, first, to tell you about your free days." Naruto raised an eyebrow. "We're basically employees now, Naruto. Of course we get free days. Since you're young, we can let you have weekends."

"Hmmm… Thanks. And?" Tony's eyes widened a little at that, retaining his smile, though. "You said 'first'."

"Ah. Right. Well, it's about your first assignment as a member of the registration forces." Naruto's face turned the 'pumped-up' expression on, hearing that. He immediately got back on his feet.

"Nice! Finally! So, who do I hunt?!"

"It's not like we give you specific targets, Naruto… Especially because Steve and his men have made a rule to never act alone as long as this war goes on, when they can help it." That made Naruto calm down a bit. He scratched his head. That made sense. "They at least go around in couples. And that's why you're going to have a partner too, for this mission."

"A partner?" Tony nodded.

"Yes. He's new to the registration forces, but he's an experienced fighter. Only particular thing… He's been recruited directly by the government, not by us." Naruto rubbed his chin in thought.

"So, basically… You want us to collaborate but at the same time you want me to keep an eye on him, hn?"

"Yes. Basically. Especially because…" It was Tony's turn to rub his chin, this time. "Let's just say that his behaviour is… Peculiar, to say the least."

"Hey, I'm a teenager. I've seen everything about peculiar behaviours." Naruto grinned while remembering the various 'peculiar' behaviours he had seen in his life. Starting with Haku and ending to Laura. "So… Who's the guy?"

"…" Tony took a split second before answering. He was convinced that the boy would come out of this 'assignment' with either a deeper knowledge of the human soul or with a particularly raging obsessions with shooting down people who dressed red and black. "He likes to call himself…"

--

"YOU KILLED MISTER IMMORTAL! AGAIN!"

"We already told you we're registered! Weren't you supposed to have gone back, like, yesterday?!"

"Oh, come on! It's just too fun! It's like shooting a self-repairing piñata! Only that instead of candy there's brain."

"WATCH OUT WHERE YOU POINT THAT THING!"

"HSSS! EVIL, EVIL MAN!"

"And I still haven't put the blindfold on, folks."

_Continue…_

_In the next chapter…_

Naruto meets his partner… But will he survive this partnership? Will he survive meeting with the dreaded 'mercenary with a mouth'? Will he survive the insanity that is Deadpool? My bet is on 'Not without serious mental scarring'. We're talking about someone who liked to jump around in Jean Grey's old costume, here. Stay tuned.

P.S.: I'll soon post a link of Naruto's new costume on my profile. :3


	18. Civil War II

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto nor Marvel… MEINOS SMASH.

**No Reading**

**Chapter16: We're going crazy, here**

"So, there I was, ready to begin my hero hunting career with the biggest badge I had ever seen…"

"Uhm…"

"When I get the news that I would have a partner. And not just any partner, a freaking Avenger. One out of Tony Stark's own pay-checks. How awesome is that? I was giggling like a school-girl after her first tentacle rape…"

"… That's wrong on so many…"

"But imagine my surprise when I find right out of my apartment the Avenger in question… A young tart whose press conference I missed because I was still playing 'find the spot' with Big Bertha on the great lake…"

"Oh my…"

"But still, uncle Sam says to obey and carry around the blonde hermaphrodite, I do so. I mean, he has to be hermaphrodite. I have no sex, he has to be hermaphrodite. Pairings in TV shows work like that."

"I can see your thing under your tights just fine, you sicko… WAIT A MINUTE! WHY THE HELL DO YOU HAVE AN HARD ON IN THE FIRST PLACE?! AND STOP TALKING LIKE I CAN'T HEAR YOU!" Naruto had been in the man company for… Thirty seconds. The amount of time he had been talking. And he already had a headache. What… Tony had told him that this man would have been 'peculiar', but… This… Nothing could have prepared him for that. The man had just put so many bad images in his mind in such a short amount of time even when he ignored some of the things and people involved… Did he upload them to his brain for the occasion or what? Deadpool turned to the newest cape of the state of New York and blinked.

"Crap, I believed my first person narration would have fixed itself, by now…" Deadpool scratched his head while Naruto's eyes bulged.

"What the hell are you talking about!!! Are you insane?!" Deadpool raised the lower half of his mask and stuck out his tongue.

"I. Don't. Know." Naruto twitched.

"YOU'RE LYIIIIIIIING!" He then stopped and looked at his stretched hand. "WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?!"

"And we're done with the Invader Zim quote. Good job." Deadpool gave him a nice guy pose. Naruto scratched his own head at high speed and then screamed while pulling his hair out in frustration. He then grabbed Deadpool by his shoulders and started shaking him like a rag doll while screaming in his face.

"ALRIGHT! STOP WITH THIS SHIT RIGHT NOW OR I'M GOING TO TALK LIKE MY DUBBED VERSION! THAT'S RIGHT! BELIEVE IT, BITCH! BELIEVE IN THE ME THAT WILL MAKE YOU BELIEVE IN ME BELIEVIEING IT YOU TO HELL! HOW DOES THAT SOUND?! AHHHHHHH?!" Deadpool just stared back. Naruto gritted his teeth and then… He blinked. He let go of the man because he had just suddenly realized that he had no idea what he had just said. He covered his face with his hands. "What's happening to me?"

"You do me proud, my young padawan." Deadpool would have never thought that it would come a day to use that line, but it had indeed came. He had found someone to train in the war against the fourth wall. Naruto slowly turned around. "You're better off not knowing what… Oh, who am I kidding? Download the whole Star Wars saga and the Knights of Old Republic games, bitch!"

"…" Naruto groaned slumped his shoulders. "I'm just going to give up understanding you and go with the flow…" He ran a hand through his hair, before offering the now identified as 'bat-shit insane man' the other one. "Well, I'm Militia. But my real name is Naruto Uzumaki."

"Ohhh, Japanese. Just one second, then…" Naruto rolled his eyes and was about to tell Deadpool about his real whereabouts… "AIIIIIIIII-YA!" When the man made him gag in shock all of a sudden with another action out of his repertoire. He then took Naruto's hand and shook it. "Harakiri. I'm Wade Wilson, alias Deadpool, the mercenary with a mouth."

"… It's… It's Konichiwa…"

"Oh, drats. You mean I ruined one of my suits for nothing? Now I finally realize why Japanese chicks never dig me… Excuse me."

--

At X-Factor Investigation, a certain blonde girl was reading a book of Freud. She knew she would need to be prepared. Just normal sweet-talking wouldn't be enough to get Naruto's mind out of the Deadpool's gutter, once that little mission was finished. Of course, she needed to experiment a little.

"Rahne! Can we talk a bit about your anger management issues?!"

"I HAVE NO… Ehrm…"

--

"And why are you telling me this?" Talk about subtlety. Either Cap and Cable knew exactly what they were doing, or they didn't. Point was, they were talking in plain sight on the top of a building. But seeing how both of them have gone through a big war each, I'd say they know exactly what they were doing.

"Because I wanted you to know what you are up against." Replied Cable, facing the emblem of the United States of A. "And renew the offer I made to you before I came here."

"Cable… Thank you, but we're not leaving this country." Cap remembered very clearly Cable's offer. The man from the future had been called a lot of things, and most of them, he was. In that case, he was the owner of Providence, an 'island' in the middle of the pacific ocean where he himself had enjoyed a stay some time before the Civil War. They called it a paradise, and they were probably right. He couldn't remember anything but peace and bliss about it, apart the little quarrel he had had with Cable. It was short-lived. He went back to finish his mural the following morning. "Asylum in Providence. A break from all this on a beautiful south pacific island sounds… Appealing. But leaving now would send a very wrong message."

"You… You're still thinking like Captain America." Cable said, a little surprised too. He was from the future, but the more he changed it, the more unpredictable it became. "I thought after your visit to Providence, after our talk…" He tried another way. After the lobotomy incident where he lost his telekinetic and telepathic power, he had compensated those with technology. From one of his eyes, suddenly appeared a flash of azure light that projected in the air the image of four heads. Each head was split in half, showing the man's 'real' face and the other his costumed identity. Under each head, a complete name. "I know the new secrete identities of all your renegade heroes! If I found them within seconds of your forgeries being electronically transferred, how long before they uncover them?"

"They don't have access to the same level of… Electronic telepathy… That you do now." Indeed, they didn't. Cable had done a good job replacing what he had lost. Before his quarrel with the Silver Surfer and the world's government, when he lost his power, he was the most powerful telekinetic and telepath alive, maybe only Xavier surpassed him. It had been him who had build Providence out of the broken pieces of his old space station, and his telepathy basically allowed him to know everything about everyone in the world. Now it was the same thing, only, instead of minds, he had files, numbers, jpegs, and so on. And it was maybe even better than before, if you thought about it.

"It's only a matter of time. They knew most of your original identities before this act came into being, they just never told you!" Tried again Cable, being a little more 'forceful' with his voice. "Now they have the two greatest reasons to pry: fear and righteous self-aggrandizement!"

"Righteous self-what?"

"Wikipedia it later, ramen-boy. Now let Wilson concentrate." He had a point, so Naruto just shut up. After a little argument about how Harakiri and Seppuku were 'honourable ways of committing suicide' and not greetings and that he wasn't Japanese, Deadpool had explained to him his grand plan. Maybe his closest friend was in with the anti-registration and he was still in town. So, he would probably meet with one of the big ones of the group to advise them that 'the awesomeness that was the mercenary with a mouth was hot on their caped tails'. And so, there they were, listening to Cable and Captain talking in the night. And Naruto was surprised by how much good of a hearing the man had, for someone who couldn't use chakra and had no other superpower but being annoying and uber-fast regeneration.

"You're saying we're going to lose?" Asked Cap, taking a few steps towards Cable.

"I'm saying you've already lost!" Cap stopped walking, but the tone of his voice didn't change at all.

"You know this because you're from the future and know everything, right?" Cable shook his head.

"No… I'm saying this because I've seen what they have planned." Cable's face became a little angry, probably recalling something he had come to know in his past, their future. "I know this goes beyond secret identities and registration. This will grow into the use of super-humans as an organized, totalitarian military patrol."

"I know Iron Man. Tony Stark would never agree to something like that." Naruto blinked at that. They were adversaries, and yet Cap seemed to still trust Tony a lot. He scratched the point of his nose at that. What he didn't understand was what they meant with 'military patrol', and why they were so touchy about it.

"And we're back to square one." He detected a little sarcasm in Cable's voice, this time. "You're talking in terms of months and years, I'm talking about decades and centuries."

"Nathan… I've thought about your talk a lot…" Cap's tone became a bit lower, like sneaking an apologies in between his words. "You can't fight time, you can't change the big picture in a daily struggle…"

"No, but throughout the course of history, the actions and decisions of individuals – or their non-actions – have affected the 'big picture'." Naruto blinked when the man with the 'shining eye' suddenly got enveloped by light blue light and began to levitate in the air. "My offer of asylum is in consideration of the big picture… The world picture. I am president pro tem of Rumekistan now. European and former soviet bloc countries have always considered super-humans a dangerously 'american thing'."

"And you can help make it a 'dangerously global thing'?" Replied Steve Rogers, his lips turning into a smirk for a second.

"Cynical humor doesn't work for you. Give up this fight to win a much, much bigger one. The fight for the future!" Said Cable, his tone solemn and high. To Naruto, he sounded like one of those figures you saw in movies. One of those characters who gave your prophecies of greatness and great choices.

"I can't do that." Simply replied Cap. Surrendering wasn't an option in his book. Not ever.

"I know. So when you do lose here, my offer will still stand." Replied the gray haired man, knowing that this time it was his turn for a joke. "Though by then, you might want to change your name."

"Captain World?" Said Steve, imagining his new name if he ever decided to represent the entire planet and not just USA.

"You'll have earned a promotion by then. General Overview." That last part of the speech had confused Naruto greatly. But if that man was really from the future, he guessed a little headache when listening to him talking was the minimum collateral damage.

"You believe in our cause. We could use you." Said Captain, making an offer of his own.

"I'm trying to keep my involvement low-profile, but… I'll do what I can when I can…" Said that, Cable 'body-slid' and disappeared, while Cap jumped down from the top of the building. Naruto watched them go.

"Well, we let them go… Why?" Asked Naruto. Weren't they supposed to hunt them down?

"Because I look at the big picture too. And I'm not talking about Bea's calendar." Naruto palmed his face. "You see, more than heads, we were here for information. And we just got them. Four floating heads that told us names. First target: Daredevil."

"Hmmm… I guess you put more thought into this than what I believed…" Naruto observed the list, and then blinked. "Wait a minute. Maybe not…"

"Whaaaaaaaat? My rocket is ready to go, pal. And even if that sentence makes no sense, I'm ready to go. Long island."

"No, wait. I mean… You basically went for the first name you are sure to kick his butt in, basically. But that would be counterproductive, I think." Naruto rubbed his chin while reading the list. "I mean, Tony said to me that these guys are never alone unless they have to be, during this war. So, following him will probably mean following him to one of their hideouts, if he's one of the 'big ones' of the anti side. I mean… We should keep it as a last resource. If we screw up, Daredevil wouldn't be the only one to immediately change his new secret identity."

"Hmmm…" Deadpool scratched his chin while looking at the blonde in front of him. "How does it feel like? Suddenly having character development? Other than having freedom over the use of your brain once again? You're no genius, but you've always been good at improvising."

"It feels great. I was…" Naruto blinked. He opened his mouth and gaped like a fish. What did he just… He shook his head. "Nevermind. Let's get back to work. So, I say, instead of immediately going after them, what about… I mean, we should read the list and find out who is more likely to group with. Maybe someone you've already fought with, so that we could even be prepared for them…"

"Hmmmm… Chimichanga, Chimichanga…" Deadpool picked the list out of Naruto's hands, while the boy asked himself exactly what Chimichanga was… "Ah-ah! Found the perfect three!"

"Three? So, a group? You sure?" Naruto asked.

"They were a group way before all the shit hit the Stamford's fan, padawan. I know because I got my butt kicked by them twice. Know everything about them." Naruto nodded and moved beside him to look at the list. It sure looked like a permanent group, since they were listed under the group's name.

"B.A.D. Girls Inc…. All girls? Oh, well… So, gonna share what you know about them?"

"Oh, just go read numbers from 20 to 22… Maybe 23 too. And we found each other again tomorrow morning at my apartment."

--

"So, Diamondback is an ex-professional thief who then got trained by Captain American and then went back to being a thief. Only, for hire, this time." Deadpool nodded. "Asp can basically shoot poison at you in the form of electricity, more or less… Can hurt you, paralyze you, or kill you… Well, if you're a normal adult man. And how did you know the range of her shots before they dissipate?"

"Want some Cheerios?" Naruto groaned and was about to curse again… When he understood that the best way to deal with the 'mercenary with a mouth' was go with the flow. He took a bowl, the milk and the cereals. He started crunching on them spoon after spoon while reading Deadpool's notes. "Join uuuuussssss, Naruto… We have cornflakes…"

"And lastly, Black Mamba… So, if she catches you with this… Darkforce, you get to live your greatest fantasy for a few minutes leaving you unaware of reality long enough for them to tie you up, kick your butt or just escape. Understood." Naruto scratched the tip of his nose. "By the way, why is your handwriting so girly?"

"Just wanted to fuck with you." Naruto sighed. He should have seen that coming. Cheerios help him.

"Alright… So, what we really need to do now is find out exactly what kind of assignment they're doing under Cap's command." Naruto thought about his mask being again on his face, and there it was. He connected to Avenger's main database and started to go through images of their newest targets. He raised an eyebrow when he found out Diamondback had pink hair. Wasn't she supposed to be a normal human? "They're thieves, so they will probably be stealing something… But what?"

"Probably information. But where, and about what? Hmmm… Sweet Bea, help me with your prayer." Naruto sighed.

"Ok, I have to ask. What's with you and Bea Ar…" Suddenly, Naruto's cellphone rang. He picked it out of his right pocket and found a text message from Layla.

_Useful knowing a girl like me, right? This will cost you, though. The trio you're looking for have just been assigned to steal information about the S.H.I.E.L.D. hero hunters teams. Their equipment and things like that. Kisses._

"…" Naruto read the thing… And smiled. What would he do without Layla, he wouldn't know. "Got us the information we need."

"Layla is becoming this story's Deus Ex Machina, hn?" Commented Wade. Naruto sighed.

"I guess, but else, we would have had to spend days looking for information, and that would have been at least two chapters of boredom. Our readers want some action. Last chapter was all about my new costume…" Naruto blinked. Once. Twice. He then banged his head against the table and jumped on Deadpool with a feral look on his face. "ALRIGHT! TALK! WHAT IS THIS AND HOW THE HELL ARE YOU INFECTING ME?!"

"Oooooh… Squirrel-boy…"

--

"Seriously, one would think something that's property of Tony Stark would have been better protected…"

"Just be thankful. We don't have the same luxury as Spider-Man. Beats me why the guy never thought about becoming a thief himself."

"Good parenting?" Indeed, the B.A.D. girls didn't have the same powers as Spider-Man, the dream of every thief and assassin alive, but, they managed to get through nonetheless. They were some of the top Thieves for hire, and a nice addition to Cap's side of the Civil War. The place they had been asked to infiltrate was more or less a high-tech warehouse. High-because it was concealed, even while being just outside New York city and because of how it was built in the inside. While from the outside it looked like a plain old-fashioned factory not used anymore, inside it was built out of some of the newest materials existing, with a few advanced alarm systems. And yet, the three girls had been able to get in easily and sneak by the few guards. They were currently in the place's main room, just a door away from the equipment that interested them. Diamondback was handling the hacking into the control panel. "Jokes apart, I think that it's because that, even if it's high-tech, it's still a warehouse. And it's not like they don't have plenty of these around New York."

"I suppose. Good thing we're here to investigate and take a sample or two, not looting." Black mamba stretched her arms, while feeling her darkforce keeping the guards entangled into their deepest fantasies. It was always a strange feeling, since the victims of her ability became somewhat connected to the darkforce like she did for the time they dreamed.

"Yes. Now… Done." Diamondback finished working with her data-pad and disconnected it from the control panel of the door just as it opened. They walked inside and lights began to go on in the room. Again, a mixture of old and new. The enormous room had high-tech walls, but it seemed like the various armours and weapons were contained in simple wooden crates. "Hmm… They started to hire lots of people at shield, it seems…"

"Or they need reserves. With people that can shatter concrete walls, you never know…" Asp began to look around, trying to find some kind of symbol or writing that could help them understand in which crates each piece of weaponry would be… Before all the lights went out again at the same time and a single, big one, went back on, loudly. The three women all turned in the direction of the noise… And their eyes fell on the shapes of two men, back to back with each other, facing in opposite directions while standing with their arms crossed. They were wearing white and black, and… Purple? And there was a big red letter on their chest… While one they didn't recognize, the other was very familiar to them, even in that alternate coloured version of his outfit. Black Mamba palmed her face.

"Prepare for trouble…" Said the blonde.

"Make it double…" Continued the other with his face covered.

"Oh, no… It's him…" Diamondback pinched the bridge of her nose.

"To protect the world from devastation!" Naruto stretched forward his left arm and leg, while bending the right one over his head to point in the same direction, lowering his body.

"To unite all people within the USA!" Deadpool did the same, inverting the appendages, though.

"To denounce the evil of masks and capes!" Naruto then shifted his body and brought his right leg forward, punching the air with his right fist, in the direction of the three women.

"To extend our reach to the stars above! Gomu Gomu no pistol!" Deadpool: same. Other side. Then, they both somersaulted high in the air. At the top of their jump…

"Militia!"

"Deadpool!" They said. They then landed a few meters away from their previous standing position, on a higher set of crates. Naruto standing on the tip of his feet while stretching his arms to his sides. Deadpool made a perfect copy of Captain Ginyu's pose.

"Team Bea, blasting off at the speed of light!"

"Surrender now, or prepare to fight!"

"Woooooobbuffet!"

"…" Diamondback blinked once, twice, thrice. Not because of the series of poses, especially the last one, but because there really was a honest-to-god Wobbuffet right in front of them along with those two psychos. They had recognized the other one, though. The kid Tony stark had included in the roster of the Mighty Avengers just a couple of days before. "Alright. How the hell did you do it?" Said the girl, pointing her hand at the Pokemon. Naruto sweatdropped and dispelled the henged copy and his own henge, returning back to his costume.

"Told ya they would just impressed by the fact that there was a Pokemon around. You crafted the costume for nothing." Said Naruto, scratching the top of his head.

"Hey! The idea was yours! And I wouldn't have had to do it, if you had just taught me the cool ninja transforming technique!" Asp blinked. They were completely sure that the Team Rocket act had been Deadpool's idea… Naruto groaned.

"I told ya, you CANNOT learn a ninja technique in a night! You don't even know how to control chakra! It's not just about making gang-signs with your hands! I can't believe you're making me talk like a teacher!" While Naruto made that argument while apparently forgetting that he himself had learned a ninja technique in a night, the girls just groaned.

"I can't believe this… We're stuck with that idiot again and Stark's newest toy…" Said Diamondback, shaking her head.

"At least we're sure they don't have back-up, since Deadpool isn't an official member of the registration side." Sighed Asp. "Black, just do your thing and rid them of us."

"Oh, well, at least our plan succeeded…" Said Naruto, interrupting the argument and turning around. The two girls noticed that Deadpool had done the same, but their gazes weren't on them, they were on something behind their backs. They turned around… Just for their eyes to widen, while Naruto grinned taking in the sight of one of his clones with the unconscious Black Mamba over his shoulders. He then adjusted one of his gloves while Deadpool got out his swords. "Taking from them their only chance of defeating us."

"Mamba!"

"Oh, shi…" The two girls turned in the direction of their enemies just in time to see them jump towards them, ready to fight.

--

"Ah!"

"Laura? Something wrong?" Laurie and Laura were training in Martial arts even at that late hour in the relative safety of the danger room. Laura had suddenly stopped their 'slow-motion' match because something had happened. The necklace had fallen to the ground. She got on her knees.

"…" The stone itself wasn't damaged. Who knew what material it was made of… But what was strange was the reason it had fallen to the ground. "The rope…" The black rope that kept it tied around her neck had suddenly broken. It was like it suddenly got snapped in half. "…"

"Uh-Oh… You know, these kind of things are usually a bad omen…" Laurie said, acknowledging what had distracted Laura.

"…" Laura just tied the necklace back around her neck. "I don't believe in these kind of things." Still, though… Even her logical, fight-affined mind couldn't help but feel a little anxiety about her favourite blonde male…

--

"Ah…"

"You felt it too, Stephen?" Dr Strange was still at the north pole, of course. And he had felt something shift… Regarding the immediate future of the young boy whose cursed power he had helped to control.

"Yes… It's…" He tried to observe the sudden shift in the astral forces. He couldn't tell the future, but… He could feel the movement and change of everything arcane in the world. He focused on Naruto… "… Fortunately, it's nothing big… For the world, at least… But…" Stephen suddenly opened his eyes. "I fear it could unsettle the boy, Uatu."

--

"Asp!"

"I know!" The two girls dodged the incoming attacks just in time. Deadpool's swords hit the ground at the same time as Naruto's right fist. Naruto's hand dented the metal. The two turned to each other.

"You take the girl with the electrobio-whatever bite. You've got the better healing factor."

"You take the pink haired one. You fucking feticist…" Deadpool was up in a flash, going after Asp before Naruto could even frown.

"Hey! I do not have a pink hair fetish!" He then remembered that, indeed, he was supposed to be taking care of her. He saw her turn the angle just in time. He immediately went after her. "Hmmm… I think I saw this in the last Indiana Jones movie… Fighting between towers of crates."

--

_Deadpool VS Asp_

"You know what they say, cut the head of the snake!"

"Tsk!" Asp dodged a sword swipe to her neck just in time, by lowering her body. She then punched Deadpool in his exposed abdomen with her hand covered in bright electricity.

"Ouch!" The 'bite' always hurt. It was like electric poison. With a full power charge, the girl could kill a normal man on the spot, or incapacitate him for a long while. Smaller bites can paralyze your muscles for a fraction of second. What she needed to land a mean uppercut under Deadpool's chin, earning a loud 'crack' from his jaw, before jumping back again. "Fat hurc…"

"Stop trying to talk with your jaw dislocated." She said, dropping into a guard stance.

"Ah. Fat's hi I'm piding my dongh…" The white-clad man brought his hands to his jaw and put it back in place. "Hmmm…" He then lifted the lower end of his mask and spat out a couple teeth. "You'd think a former dancer wouldn't be able to hit this hard."

"Life is full of surprises." _Who am I kidding?_ Asp felt the hand she had used to punch the man pulsating in pain. Between the two she was the one who had gotten the most damage, it seemed. Deadpool's body was damn sturdy, both because of his healing factor and his training. It wasn't like he had been born with those muscles.

The point was, she and the other girls mocked him and joked just because they had very good chances of winning against him, mostly because of Black Mamba's powers. But now… She was alone against someone who could shrug off her bioelectricity shots off like nothing and could not be killed. Not by her, at least. She had doubts that even dropping him in a pool of acid would take care of his rotten brain. The problem was, she was fighting against Deadpool alone… And that meant that she would get beaten and maybe killed.

"I concur! Now, how's this for a surprise?!" Deadpool suddenly pulled out a gun from the inside of his pants and started shooting at her. She thought his clothes were a little tighter than usual, in that area… She jumped out of the way and dove behind a set of crates. "Aw, come on. There's no gusto in shooting without hitting anything fleshy…"

"You damn freak…" She waited till she couldn't hear gunshots anymore. With Deadpool, there was the thing that he usually acted either in an unpredictable way, or an easily predictable way. She hoped that was the latter case as she charged another one of her shots and aimed high above her head. She raised her head to find him and the shot hit home.

"Eeeek!"

"You didn't just scream like a little girl." She couldn't do permanent damage, so, she had to try to incapacitate him. Attack ligaments, articulations… Slow him down so that she could regroup with one of the other girls. She let him fall to the ground and attacked the back of his knees immediately. There was a popping sound.

"Hey! I didn't want to go Roadrunner mode just yet!" While he was occupied joking and trying to pop his knees back in place, she focused her attention on the big, heavy crates. She pushed the highest one right on top of him. "Awww, shucks."

"…" She jumped back as the crate fell just on top of him, squashing him and putting some hard-to-clean stains on his newest suit, and breaking apart the crate… Then, she suddenly stopped running away when she noticed that she had been a little too nervous to even pay attention to her surroundings. She searched for another crate, with a different symbol…

"Owowowowow… I never knew popping a knee back in was this painful…" Deadpool slowly moved away the crates and whatever else was upon him… He then noticed what was it. "Oh, body armor. Right, we were waiting for them in a deposit full of weapons for the hero hunting teams of shield. So, it would not be unusual if one of the hot chicks…"

"Suddenly managed to get hand of a big ass gun?" Deadpool jumped away just in time to dodge the barrel of shots. Each one opened a little crater in the floor. Ten centimetres of diameter. All the while he just focused on the squishy sounds his still regenerating inner organs were making. He kept on running though.

"Nice work finding that weapon, too bad for three things." The merc kept on running while Asp kept on ravishing the floor with her newly found weapon, but always missing Deadpool. "First, the recoil on that thing is too big for your slim body."

"Tsk…" She didn't mind him much. She just kept on shooting. Eventually, she would hit her. He wasn't that fast… Was he?

"Second, there's plenty of cover for me." He was right on that too. At the last second, he jumped behind another set of crates. It would allow him the few seconds he needed to keep on blabbering. "Third, each of those weapons are specially made for the ones who are supposed to use them."

"Eh?" She stopped shooting and then started noticing the orange glow and beeping coming from the weapon. Her eyes widened.

"In case an unregistered superhuman touches them, give it a few seconds and…" Boom. "Boom." He got out of his hiding place just as his kidneys got back in place, looking at the smoking hot chick unconscious on the ground. As in, literally smoking. That shockwave packed enough punch to even knock out Cap. Figures poor Asp. "Hmmm… I think you should invest in more resistant clothes." Hail god for not-shockwave resistant clothes and uncovered mammals.

--

_Militia VS Diamondback_

"So, how come you're teaming up with that nutcase?"

"He wants a government badge, I'm the newest registered super-human and Avenger. I needed some field work, he needed a partner." _Alright. This fight is going to be long…_ Naruto thought, while he and Diamondback parried each other's blow yet again, knee against two hands. That allowed him to cop a feel of her tight. He blushed and got distracted enough to allow her to just straighten the leg and kick him under his chin. "Ouch!"

"We saw the thing on TV… I think Cap almost looked disappointed." She did a little somersault and dodged by jumping back. She saw that while falling to the ground he had released three of those projectiles of energy. Once Naruto fell on his butt he wiped his mouth clean from the little blood that had come out. He had bit his tongue because of that last hit. "You've made an impression on him with just one meeting. That's saying something. Or maybe it was your words…"

"For real? And here I thought I was the only one who had been left impressed." Naruto got back in a standing position, while evaluating the situation. He had the stamina and a couple of weeks of training with Laura, in hand to hand combat. The girl had been trained by Captain America himself for… Longer than him, he was certain. And he had much more experience than him, probably. So, the best tactic would be to outfight her… "He's a great guy, hn?" _Too bad we have to get this done quickly… That, and, Avengers are supposed to kick ass!_

"He's Captain America. That's enough said." Blonde lunged at pink again, right fist this time. He missed and just pushed himself forward so that he could use the momentum to dodge the counter attack, a vicious round-house kick. "If you got that impressed, why did you join the wrong side of the battle?"

"I was about to ask you the same question, actually." Naruto landed on his feet… And then repeated the movements he had just done only in the opposite order. Used a jump and his hand to jump forward and lunge feet first. The move was a surprise even to Diamondback. Naruto's right foot hit home on the girl's right part of her face. Naruto then landed away from her, watching as she stumbled but quickly recovered. "Aw, come on. Why couldn't have you been butt ugly? I'm feeling ugly inside just watching that bruise…"

"Don't be." She said. It was her turn to wipe blood off her mouth. Before Naruto could understand what she meant, he was already being electrocuted by the small device she had attacked to his right leg the moment he had landed his attack. "I can't believe you're trying to hit on someone you're trying to throw in jail… Or maybe you're just being awfully sincere." She rushed to him and kicked him in the face, hard. She then sat on his back just as the electricity stopped and took a hold of his left arm. "One advice for the future. If you're that weak to girls' bodies, try not to fight them up close."

"H-Hey! That's not… AAAAAAAAAAGH!" The sound of cracking bones echoed through the room along with Naruto's scream. "I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU JUST BROKE MY ARM! IT HURTS!"

"Don't whine. You've got an healing factor, right? Just slower than Deadpool's one. A plus for me." She let go of the broken appendages and then went for the other one… Just for Naruto to disappear from under her. She found herself sitting upon a bucket. "… And just exactly how did you do that?"

"Or why would a bucket be in here… Argh…" The healing factor was already kicking in, but… Too slowly for his own good. _I wish I could turn some of the bracelets and speed up the process… But I could seriously hurt her. She's not a superhuman._ "Ninja training, by the way."

"Never heard of ninjas who could do this…" Diamondback got back on her feet and got a few of her 'diamonds' out of her pouch.

"Eh… Didn't you hear the news?" Naruto said shaking his head from side to side.

"I'm from another world. Literally." Diamondback almost didn't turn around in time. Almost. She dodged the punch to the face and cut him across the stomach with one of her weapons. The thing disappeared in a puff of smoke.

_Damn! I can't see…_ "Ack!" She really couldn't see anything. The hit she got on the stomach was like he had came out of nowhere. She jumped high in the air… And there was another one up there. She parried the kick by crossing her arms over her head. She landed and rolled away from the landing point just as he landed right behind her. She silently cursed, holding her stomach. Then, a loud footstep made her turn her head around… And she 'Tsk'ed… "You've got to be kidding me…" _How did I miss this many copies of him hiding?_

"Matrix still rocks, even if it came out 8 years ago, right? Well, this scene is from the second episode, though…" The real Naruto said, while his copies came out of hiding and started surrounding her. Indeed, she felt like she had just been dropped into Matrix Reloaded, with all those clones of the blonde teen around. "Wanted to keep this fair… But if I don't gang up on you, I fear I could really hurt you… I'm just here to capture you, you know."

"… That's quite contradictory, don't you think?" Diamondback got back on her feet and in a guard stance. Things weren't looking exactly peachy…

"Believe me. Among the current choices I have, this is the one that will hurt you less." As that was said, the copies began advancing towards the pink haired girl, who promptly reacted by getting out some of her diamonds, and shot them out in all directions around her. That made Naruto blink, as the weapons cut through most of his clones with ease, making them puff in smoke. _Ehm… I guess it wasn't that big of a plan, if she can do that…_

_Ten left…_ She thought, looking as the remaining copies advanced through the smoke screen towards her. This time she was attentive enough, though. The first hit was a punch aimed at the back of her head. She lowered herself and rapidly lifted her leg, kicking him under the chin.

"Nine." Naruto was observing the fight from on top of the crates while focusing his chakra on his broken arm, to make it heal faster. Three more clones rushed at her, trying to flank her. The girl immediately reacted by raising her other leg and using her hands to spin her body around, kicking hard in the face all three clones. Naruto's eyes widened. "She knows Capoeira?"

"Six…" Two more, while most of the smoke cleared, so that she could see where the other four were as well. Always rotating, she lowered herself and kicked the legs of one of the clones. She then jumped forward, stepping hard on the downed clone's sternum to make it disappear, spraying smoke just in the face of the other one, who got shocked just enough for the girl to suddenly jump and land with her legs on top of his shoulders, his face in her crotch. She then brought her hands to the head of the clone and snapped his neck.

"How… Ruthless…" Naruto, receiving the clone's memory, blushed for the feeling of softness and the ruthless use of her femininity to distract her victim, just as the girl violently stretched her right leg behind her and kicked basically through one of the four remaining clone. Just three remained. While one attacked her from behind, the other one sent projectiles of energy in her direction. She jumped, allowing the projectiles to hit another target, leaving two clones standing, and countering with another one of her diamonds. The clone dodged the hit and Diamondback landed on top of another pile of crates. "You're… Pretty good. I can believe you've been trained by Captain America…"

"You're good as well. But it's too bad that your clones don't have chances to counterattack. They're not very useful for 'ganging up', if just one hit makes them disappear." Said the girl, eyeing his original opponent, who was still sporting a little of that blush. "… How come you're blushing?"

"Ehm…" Naruto blushed even more. "Basically, I've recently discovered that when my clones disappear, me and the other clones get back all the new memories. So… It's like you snapped my neck and… Sat on my shoulders." He shook his head. "But returning to what you said, you're right. If they're not in big numbers, they're not that useful for combat. I suppose their main use would be recognition and… Distracting the enemy."

"I su… Ah!" Diamond back suddenly found herself pinned to the ground. It was so fast… In a few seconds, two more clones had appeared to both her sides, kicked her legs from under her and pinned her to the ground. "W-What…"

"Also giving you a false sense of security. Did you really believe me to be that slow?" Diamondback tried to struggle, in vain. The two clones were already blocking her arms with some kind of rope, along with her ankles, tying them together. Naruto jumped and landed in front of her. "As I said, I didn't want you to get too hurt…"

"… Screw you." Diamondback said, angry. She felt a little hurt in her pride, since the teen had basically just told her that he had taken her out without going all out on her. And she knew that capturing someone was much more difficult than killing him. Naruto blinked and scratched the back of his head. What was up with her?

--

"You don't even have to move your feet. Just shake your head…"

"You were so not just singing the Hampsterdance." Stated Naruto more than asking when he returned to the 'meeting place' they had agreed of using, as in, the entrance of the warehouse, where he found Deadpool and his clone, each one carrying a snaky girl over one of his shoulders. "Well… Apart the few stains of blood you have on your clothes, I can say it went pretty good."

"You get a healing factor, and people suddenly start shooting and pushing heavy things atop of you… Sniff. It can hurt one's feelings, you know…" Deadpool feigned sorrow, and then grinned. "So, once we drop them to the authorities, wanna try teaching me ninja stuff again?"

"Sigh… We've already tried that." Naruto sighed and scratched the back of his head. "I've already given you your exercises. Till you are able to cover yourself completely in chakra, there's no use in teaching you the rest. And you still haven't been able to even feel it… Well, it was just one night, after all…"

"Pal, you're not going anywhere till you teach me how to do the transformation thing!" Naruto sighed, looking as Deadpool pointed one of his swords at him. But, thinking about his words and his tone of voice… He had detected a bit of seriousness among the usual insanity.

"Hmmm… What's it to you, anyway?"

"…" Deadpool could be serious from time to time. More than serious, he could force his brain to act rationally, when he wanted. And in the future he would also develop a sense of honour. But let's leave it at that he could be serious when he really needed it. That was one of the cases. After all, Naruto still had to see him without his costume. He shook his head. "Nevermind. We'll talk about it later. Right now we have three bouncy packages to deliver."

"… You better not have done anything to Asp or Mamba." Threatened Diamondback from over her Naruto-shaped stool. Naruto rolled his eyes.

"Don't worry. I made him promise that he wouldn't try anything funny with unconscious girls… By the way, what's with the smokescreen?" Asked Naruto. As a reply, he could see Wade blinking from behind the mask. Naruto pointed behind the man and the mercenary turned around to witness a growing cloud of what looked like black smoke…

"Oh, shit. Last time it ended in a rub off with Nate and Weasel…" It was Naruto's turn to blink, this time. What did he… Then he turned around when he suddenly heard a poof and the sound of something dropping to the ground. His clone had just disappeared… Courtesy of a blow to the back of the head of the now no more unconscious Black Mamba, who was observing them from her sprawled position on the floor.

"Oh, f…" Before he could do anything, the darkforce materialization grabbed him by the legs and lifted him up along with Deadpool, letting their two prisoners fall to the ground below them. Diamondback grinned.

"Since when can you fake being unconscious that well, Mamba?" She said. Mamba just smiled while going back in a standing position.

"Since you thought me how to do it." She then raised her head and her hands in the direction of the two captives. And Naruto tensed when he saw the blackforce head towards them, obscuring his vision… "Sweet dreams." The last thing he heard was Deadpool's voice saying 'I hope the dream involves bobbies, this time'.

--

"… Uto! Uto!" He blinked, getting used to his surroundings. Like it was the first time he saw them. But that was impossible. He owned that place, after all. It was his property. All of it. The gardens, the buildings, the fountains… And yet, he felt very happy at the thought that he shared it with the people he loved most. One of these was waving a hand in front of his face, at the moment. He gently grabbed it and squeezed, signalling to the owner to stop. She just chuckled. "You kind spaced out for a moment. What's on your mind?"

"Nothing…" He kissed the fingertips and he saw her smile widen. "Have I already told you how much I love the feeling of your silver body?"

"You did, you did… I don't know how many times." She suddenly sat on his legs and feigned a pout. "Don't tell me that with my lovely body in front of you, you were still thinking about depressing things like the reactions of your ex-friends back in your old home…"

"Nah. It wasn't the case, I swear. I just felt… Out of place for a second, Cess." He kissed her on the lips sweetly. She smiled in return and hugged him around the neck.

"Out of place? Why?" She made circles on his chest while he observed the children playing in the garden down the balcony. "You belong here. With me, with Laura, with Julian… With everyone who loves you."

"… Yes." Naruto put his hands through Cessily's hair and gently caressed her head through them, observing the sun high above, shining brightly over their heads. "I belong here…"

--

A wonderful, wonderful feeling… It was incredible how also those simple things were now libidinous to him. Simple things like the cold touch of the floor and the feeling of clothes on his skin… It was a bit of a disappointment to discover that he wasn't free. He was still inside his jailer's body, only… He was now controlling it. The mind and will of the boy were completely shut off at the moment… And so were his control over his own consciousness and the control of his own body… He had taken over. He stayed immobile, smiling, absorbing everything, savouring it… Breathing, flexing his muscles, moving eyelids… Scraping nails over his palms.

"That was too close, girls."

"Who would have expected for Deadpool and that other guy to come after us?"

"Whatever." Said Black Mamba, shrugging her shoulders. "The only thing we should care about, at the moment, is getting the hell out of here. The darkforce will not keep them at bay for much longer. And…"

"Ahhh… So, it's you I must thank…" The B.A.D. Girls froze at the sound of that voice. They had heard it just briefly, each one of them, but they could still tell that it sounded familiar and different at the same time. It was Naruto's voice, there was no doubt… But it was rougher, darker… More mature and more scary. They turned around quickly, a tremendous feeling of uneasiness overwhelming them, observing as the blonde boy slowly came to a standing position again… And as he held his injured hand to his mouth, licking the blood that had come out of the cuts he had done to himself with his own fingernails. "The taste of blood… I had almost forgotten it…"

"… What's… What's with him?" Another thing that they had noticed was how the boy's features were slowly changing. His hair had become slightly wilder and spikier, his eyes red and slitted, and his nails had become longer and sharper, resembling more claws that human hands, along with his canines. After observing his own hand for a while, the boy turned his gaze on them again, and Asp suddenly felt like throwing up.

"Hmmm… Too bad that from what I've heard, this situation is only temporary, is it?" 'Naruto' slowly lowered his hand to his side, and then flashed a feral grin at the three girls. "Well, better make it the most out of it…"

_Continue…_

_In the next chapter…_

Something horrible has happened. The Kyuubi has taken control of Naruto's body, and the fight is ready for the B.A.D. Girls and Deadpool. What will the outcome of this confrontation be? Stay tuned!


	19. Civil War III

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto nor Marvel… MEINOS SMASH.

**No Reading**

**Chapter17: Define 'friend'**

"Hmmm…" The moment he had just had made him look more like Shukaku than himself. But it had been ages since he had tasted anything. And since he couldn't bite off chunks of the brat's body, he had to be satisfied with the iron-like taste of blood. He focused his attention on his surroundings, and observed the other living beings around him, using the brat's memories as a reference. The idiot with who he had partnered up and his three 'targets'… He grinned. "It's been ages since I've moved… Since I've hurt…"

One of his hands went for the bracelets that were currently keeping his power in check, and went to turn all of them… Just to find out that he couldn't. They didn't even budge. He applied more strength, but… Nothing. He let out a low growl, which startled the girls even more. It seemed like he wasn't entirely in control of everything… He couldn't fell not even an inch of his chakra. It felt the same amount that he had leaked out… That time with that boy who used ice mirrors. It wasn't what he wanted… He suddenly smirked again. "But it will be enough…"

"… What is wrong with him?" Said Asp, more a statement than a question. Among the three, she was the one who felt more that there was something seriously wrong with the boy. The air around him had changed in a few instants. She didn't break eye contact with him. She didn't want to… But her eyes were starting to get dry. She blinked… And he had suddenly disappeared. "! What…"

"Watch out!" Diamondback was the first one to react, having managed to follow the high-speed movements of the boy. He had jumped and ran horizontally along the crates to their left and then jumped towards their backs. She crouched and made Asp crouch, while Mamba jumped out of the way. But the Dark-force controller wasn't fast enough. Naruto managed to hit her… Or better, he scratched her right arm with his claws covered in red chakra. Mamba cried out in pain. "Mamba!"

"T-The scratch… It burns like a bitch!" She replied while holding her damaged arm, in a kneeling position, while the blonde teen crouched in a strange stance, being on all fours, almost with his face on the ground… Like some kind of animal.

"Hmmm… It lacks flexibility…" He said, before launching himself at the girls, this time targeting Diamondback. The girl was prepared for him, this time. Just as he was above her, he stretched out her legs and used his own momentum to throw him behind her, towards the wall. The Kyuubi was a bit surprised by this. "Ohhh…" He landed safely on one side of the crates, sticking to them with chakra, a devious smile on his lips. "Yeees… Seems like I will be able to have more fun than what I thought…"

"… Mamba, try to focus. Why hasn't your dark force worked?" Asked Asp, being the one who was the most wary of the enemy they were now facing. Mamba gritted her teeth for the pain.

"There's no way it didn't work. We all saw him fall to the floor unconscious, too…" He slowly fell back on the ground while observing his targets. He liked to see them squirm a little, using their simple minds to find a way out of their predicament. "But, it's more like… Another personality surfaced when I put to sleep the original one."

"…" Diamondback then suddenly remembered what the boy had said to her when he had managed to finally stop her movements. "He probably wasn't joking when he said that ganging up on me was the thing that would hurt me the less…"

"Hehehe… My host is soft-hearted." The Kyuubi chuckled while rubbing his chin with his nails, observing the three girls in front of him. And then observed one of his arms, the one that, according to Naruto's memories… He chuckled some more while raising it over his head, focusing his thoughts. "He was holding back so much… Even on this human technology…"

"!" The three girls scattered just as Kyuubi swung his arm and a single enormous projectile of energy that impacted the ground and unleashed an enormous explosion that left a crater in the ground and crashed the surroundings crates. All the while, he was keeping his eyes on the three girls, waiting to see which one would be thrown off balance by the explosion and the air movement… It wasn't surprising that it would be the already injured one.

"Tch…" Mamba, like her companions, didn't expect the boy to have such a powerful weapon equipped. He had used nothing but his fists, from what Diamondback had told them… Her thoughts were suddenly interrupted when she detected a presence just behind her back. She barely had the time to move her eyes to see a clawed hand coming to palm her in the face. She held up her right arm to block the blow… And she found herself suddenly wishing she had used both hands to parry it, instead. "AAAAAAAAAH!"

"Hmmm… Difficult." Mamba was thrown to the ground, the blinding pain in her now broken arm stopping her coherent thoughts. The Kyuubi observed his arm, like it could tell him what had gone wrong with his try of mimicking the Hyuuga's juuken. "… I guess it's not just about quantity of the chakra. It's mostly about control. It probably passes through the chakra points of the opponent…"

He turned his hand around observing the palm, while Mamba slowly got on her fours while Asp, her hand enveloped in a full charge, attacked him. He simply took a step forward, and the hit went flying an inch behind his head.

"Hmmm… Having too much chakra can be a pain in the ass with human techniques…" Suddenly he lifted his right leg behind his back fast and hard, kicking Asp in the stomach, making her spit saliva and blood, her energy disappearing while her face became a mask of surprise and pain. Kyuubi grinned. "I suppose that's why we both prefer power over skill, right, Naruto?"

He suddenly turned around and enveloped his whole arm in chakra, palming Asp in her right side. And the girl suddenly understood how it was to be a cannonball. She was thrown so strong against a wooden crate that she crashed it completely and almost passed through it. She would have, if it hadn't been full of body armours. The demon didn't retract the arm, observing with glee the destruction he had brought.

"Ohh… It's so nice to finally be able to… Oh." His grin suddenly disappeared, leaving place to seriousness mixed with surprise. "I'm impressed." He suddenly got attacked by two sides by both Mamba and Diamondback, who aimed their kicks at two different heights of his body. Respectively at his right side and his neck. Kyuubi just jumped to avoid the attacks. He noticed how they had managed to not hit each other when he had suddenly disappeared. "Seems like you have a high tolerance to pain… And you have enough brain to work in a team. Humans of this world are better than what I thought them to be."

He then suddenly opened his arms and mimicked what Naruto had done some time before in a fight. He let out an outburst of pure chakra towards the ground, a lot of it. The effect was the same of what had happened to Sasuke. The two girls were pushed on the ground and stunned, unable to move for a few seconds. That was all that he needed. He landed between them at high speed and grabbed Diamondback's right ankle.

"What…!"

"This is a bit unorthodox, but…" He suddenly gathered all his strength in his right feet and he kicked Black Mamba in the side, away, to join Asp in the wreckage of wood. He grinned as he observed the figure of the black haired girl fly in pain. "The effect is the wanted one. This one, instead, is from your martial arts."

"Ahhh!" Diamondback didn't manage to react in time. The Kyuubi pulled her forward and then throw her in the air in front of her. She found herself upside-down in front of him, and then… Her eyes widened when she saw his stance. He had completely stretched a leg behind him while the other one was flexed in front of him. His hands were stretched in open palms, to his side, his wrists joined together, covered in that red energy… Her whole abdomen got filled with pain when he brought them forward, and her mouth filled with the metallic taste of blood. She joined her two companions among the wreckage, finally managing to damage the crate behind the first one they had crashed.

"Hmmm… Well, even if you can take pain like a shinobi, it seems that you don't have the same resistance… My fun is already over…" The Kyuubi walked to the three girls, now on the verge of unconsciousness from the pain caused by the various fractures. He searched through the boy's memories, looking for something to finish the three girls… He grinned when he came upon that nice move that the boy used so often. He held out his hand to his right side and started gathering chakra, making it rotate… "I guess that we will skip to the part where I make you bleed…"

"Nah." The Kyuubi suddenly stopped when he felt something at his neck. He was impressed yet again. Even with the boy's body's improved senses he hadn't managed to notice his strange partner sneaking up on him. The masked man was now holding a blade to his throat. "I think it's the part where we exorcise you."

"…" He shook his head, chuckling darkly. "I wish I could leave the boy's body with something as simple as an exorcism, human…" He suddenly disappeared, substituting himself with one of the armours that had ended up on the floor not very far from the superhumans. The Kyuubi was kneeled down, his feet joined, standing on its points. "I must say, I didn't expect you to recover before my host… It was quite a powerful kind of demonical energy…"

"I suppose it helps that Bea gives such good hot-dogs. That, and I've already been subject to it like twice." Deadpool slowly turned to the Kyuubi again pointing his sword at him. "Alright, so, from what you've just said, I suppose that in a few minutes my fellow Jedi knight will come back in control of his body, right? Because you sure ain't him. He was kinda adamant on not killing anyone while you were ready to use a secret ninja technique to do so."

"Eheheh, correct. In a few minutes, I will go back in my prison…" The Kyuubi enveloped his whole body in red chakra, strengthening it greatly. It looked like this other human was going to be much more entertaining than the three women he had just beaten. "The question is, can you restrain me for that much time?"

"Dude, I've endured a Dark Angel marathon. What do you think your Kung Fu can do to me?" Deadpool picked out his other sword and rushed at the Kyuubi.

The demon laughed and sprinted forward as well, while pulling out the knives the boy had been holding attached to his belt. The two clashed, weapon against weapon. Deadpool got slightly pushed back, but he held his ground, much to the Kyuubi's laughing. The demon suddenly somersaulted using the point of meeting between his knives and Wade's swords as a fulcrum. Deadpool moved his swords in mid jump and slashed at him while he passed over his head, scratching him slightly on his left tight. The Kyuubi landed while the injury healed itself almost immediately and sprinted forward again.

"Time for a Chuck Norris impression!" Wade rushed forward and suddenly jumped in mid-air when the demon slashed at his legs, and then aimed a flying rotating kick right at his enemy's head. "AAAAH-CHAAAAAAAA!" Of course, the exaggerated move failed, and the bijuu reacted almost immediately by planting one of the knives in his left tight. "Aw! My favourite tight!"

"Eheheh… You make up for a very amusing opponent in this human form, although not a very skilled one…" Mocked the Kyuubi, observing the landing Deadpool behind his shoulders.

"Yeeeeah… Say that to the grenade attached between your shoulders." Wilson replied to the Kyuubi, who raised an eyebrow and immediately focused his attention to the place the man had nominated. There was indeed something there… And suddenly something was on his face as well. Deadpool's right elbow, to be correct. The hit was quite strong. Even if protected and strengthened by the albeit thin layer of chakra, the demon was sent flying forward, and landed on his butt. While the demon slowly recovered and put Naruto's jaw back in place, Deadpool got the knife out of his tight, letting the wound finally close. "Just joking. It's just an iPod with some tape attached to it."

"…" The demon pulled the thing away from the jacket and observed it. Indeed, an iPod Nano. And it was also playing a song, it seemed. "… It's Raining Men?"

"Hallelujah! It's raining men! Gonna get wet!" Deadpool attacked the Kyuubi yet again. The demon grumbled at the thought of having been tricked like that by such a stupid trick. The point was that the boy's body was currently much more vulnerable than his own one, even when he transformed into an human form. He was forced to pay attention to things like human-made weapons, especially the ones that were from that new world, much more powerful than the ones shinobi usually used… Like the one strapped to one of the boys' arms. While he jumped in the air to dodge another attack, he shot another projectile like the one he had shot before at the three women. Deadpool instead of stopping, he accelerated and run towards the pile of crates behind the impact point… And run vertically on it for a couple of meters, he then jumped from it towards the still air-borne Kyuubi, stretching out a leg towards him. "Ninjaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!"

"Nggrrr…" The Kyuubi held his arms out in front of his chest to parry the incoming blow while the blow exploded under them… But he suddenly felt like his arms didn't respond to his will anymore… He growled. "Just at the right moment, boy… Take this pain for me…" The Kyuubi felt himself being drawn back to his sealing place while Naruto's came back in control… Just in time to take in the face Deadpool's foot. "OUCH!"

"Oh. You're back."

--

"Open your mouth wide…"

"Oh, come on! You know this embarrasses me…" Yep, it did. If there was one thing that embarrassed Naruto like no other was someone feeding him, even if they were alone. On the other hand, Layla loved doing it. And that smile just had the effect of making him shut up every time. "You always win… Why is that?" He opened his mouth and let the grape fall into his mouth.

"I have breasts." Naruto blushed. He knew it was that simple, but… He wished it wasn't. He sighed and swallowed after chewing a bit, and suddenly found Layla's arms around his chest. And he stopped suffocating before he even started. "Here you go."

"… If you knew that I was going to choke myself, why did you still fed me that grape?" She smiled and embraced his neck from behind.

"Because I always wanted to do the Hemlich manoeuvre." She kissed him on a cheek… And that feeling of soft lips on his skin was the last thing of that reality that he remembered.

--

"Oh. You're back." The mercenary said as the two fell on the ground again, one on his feet the other one on his back. Wilson observed with interest as he saw claws, red energy and the whiskers on his face disappear. "Good to have you back, pal. Whoever was in control wasn't as knowledgeable about pop culture as yourself."

"Nggh…" Naruto massaged his sore face while trying to process what he was hearing Deadpool say. "Whoever… What? I don't understand. Last thing I remember is… Uh?" What made Naruto awaken from his pain-induced soreness was hearing a moan of pain coming from somewhere. He turned his head around in a flash… And his eyes widened behind his mask as he saw Diamondback trying to get back on his feet, gritting her teeth in pain. And the spots of blood on the floor around her didn't help his state of alarm, like the unconscious forms of her companions behind her. He closed the distance between the two of them in a flash and kneeled beside her. "W-What happened?! Who did this?!"

"M-Memo to self… Never use Mamba's power on superhumans with unknown background…" She joked, trying to distract herself from the pain in her body. Naruto shook his head… And then Deadpool's words came back to him.

"I… When I went unconscious…"

"Something else surfaced, it seems." Deadpool said while he approached Naruto and the injured girls too. "Something meaner, more violent and more… Evil."

"Yeah… Ngh!" The pink-haired girl bit her lower lip when she felt the huge pain again in her side. Naruto had understood what had happened. When his conscious self had gone to… His greatest desire, his body had fallen under the control of the Kyuubi. And he had used his body and his abilities to… He shook his head and slow made the girl lay on her back, and getting his jacket off. The girl stared at him strangely. "What… What are you doing?"

"First aid while you tell me where I can bring you and your team to get you treated." He simple replied, and proceeded to rip out a sleeve of his jacket… Just to find that he couldn't. He palmed his forehead. Super-resistant materials.

"… Weren't… Weren't you here… To subdue us? To turn us in?" Asked the girl. Naruto's face shot up at this, but he shook his head right after to return his attention to her injuries. Deadpool decided to voice his thoughts.

"First, bringing you in like this wouldn't give us a good impression with our employers, the United States of A. Second…" He kneeled down beside Naruto, patting his right shoulder. "I don't think the boy would have the heart to."

"…" The girl turned her head to one side and sighed. A beating and pity all in one day of work. It was all working out perfectly for her team, hn? Naruto had managed to convince Deadpool to give him the upper jacket of his Team Rocket costume to rip in bandages, and he had plenty of wood to make casts out of.

"Where can I take you? I mean, you have a base around here or something…"

"We'll take over from now on." Naruto and Deadpool immediately turned around as the new voice echoed in the room. To the blonde it sounded pretty familiar… And indeed it was. Behind them had appeared a few people. All comprehended in the list Deadpool had gotten. The only one Naruto knew personally was Cap, though. He was accompanied by three other adult people and another group of superheroes who instead looked more around his own age. How they had suddenly appeared behind them without making a sound was behind him. Steve Rogers gave a sign with his hands to his companions, and the three adult ones proceeded to approach the three girls to pick them up bridal style, gently and slowly. "I must commend you for not taking advantage of the situation for an easy capture. That's a remarkable sign of honour."

"… It… It wouldn't have been fair. I mean… This is not what I wanted." Replied Naruto, looking at Diamondback while the man in a red costume picked her up. "I mean… I want to capture you all… But I want you to still be in a human shape. I don't want to be forced to break someone's face every time."

"… I understand what you mean." The boy basically didn't want to unnecessarily put someone in that state. He wanted a fair fight even if it was literally a war. They had observed the fight thanks to a communicator in Diamondback's suit. He had managed to subdue her giving her the least injuries possible. Then, something happened… There was something more to the kid, it seemed. And Steve asked himself if Tony knew about it… "Well, I will say to all my comrades with telepathic abilities to not shut down your mind in any case. That should be enough."

"… Yes, I supp…"

"Wilson, get your hands off the girl right now…"

"Oh, come on! I deserve at least this much! I saved their sorry asses and restrained my voyeuristic instincts all this time by focusing on Brokeback Mountain!" Naruto sweatdropped when he saw that Deadpool had returned to 'normal', and was currently trying to peek under Asp's clothes. Too bad the girl in question was in the protection of a black man who was two times his size.

"As much as that sounds strange… He's the one to thank. If it wasn't for him, the girl would have ended up much worse, if not dead." Naruto could see that Cap was trying very hard to not roll his eyes. He understood how he felt… And then his eyes shifted on the group of teens behind Cap. There were three of them. Two boys and one girl. The girl was dressed mostly in purple and was also carrying around a bow, and… Sunglasses at night? The two boys were basically one the opposite of the other. One was blond, the other black haired. One was very thin, the other bulky and green. "Ehm… Are those guys members of the Young Avengers, by chance?"

"Yes, they are. From left to right, you have Hulkling, Wiccan and Hawkeye." Explained Captain America. Naruto waved at them, puzzling the three youngsters a bit. Especially Hulkling, who had been in the process of observing him. Cap noticed this. He guessed he owed him that question. "By the way, Naruto… Are you by any chance acquainted with the Kree or the Skrull?"

"…" Naruto raised an eyebrow. "The what and the who?"

"… Nevermind." Cap turned his head to the right, noticing that his other companions had managed to 'secure' the girls. As in, Hercules had just punched Deadpool into the ground. "Alright. We can go. To the next time we meet, Naruto." Cap saluted him and turned around. The blonde boy didn't grin much. His eyes followed Diamondback's gaze, that was fixed on him.

"… Treat them right, ok?" Steve Rogers didn't stop to reply to him, since the answer to the question was pretty obvious. He just walked near Wiccan, who had started chanting his 'spell'. In a few seconds, they disappeared in a tornado of blue energy. Magic, he supposed. He then groaned. "Great. First mission, complete disaster. What are we going to tell the higher ups?"

"The truth. We had subdued them but we committed the error of not securing further Black Mamba, and so we fell asleep." Replied Deadpool. Naruto blinked and turned to the mercenary. He would do something so nice when he had been the one to decided to not turn the girls in?

"…" He thought about it… And then sighed. "Alright, I'll teach you the handsigns for the transformation technique."

"That's what I wanted to hear. Now, let's bruise each other some more."

"HEY! I NEED BOTH MY ARMS!"

--

"Alright. Carry them to the infirmary right now." The instant the teleport had ended, Cap had immediately ordered for the injured to be brought to the infirmary. One of the young Avengers, instead, had a question for him.

"Cap… So?"

"…" Ever since Hulkling had seen Militia on TV, his colours and how he looked very much like his father, that question had been bugging him. Could it be that he and the boy were somewhat related? Cap, though, shook his head from side to side. "He wasn't lying. He has never heard the words Kree and Skrull in his life. And I don't think he even knows who Captain Marvel was, Hulkling."

"But… He looks so much like him… Maybe he doesn't know himself? I mean, I didn't know either till…" Said Hulking. Steve decided to cut him off in mid-sentence.

"The chances are slim." He shook his head… And decided to be blatant with Hulkling. "If you want to know my opinion… I think that it's just a coincidence that he looks like your father, Hulkling. And that Tony Stark just reinforced that by giving him his colours. To make him accepted by the masses faster."

"I… I understand…" The young avenger lowered his head, scratching the back of his head. He guessed he had hoped too much… Suddenly, he felt his boyfriend's hand on his right shoulder, a bit of worry in his eyes. He smiled. "I'm okay. I guess I was getting my hopes too high."

"That's what bothers me, actually. What exactly were you hoping for?" Asked Wiccan. Teddy chuckled sadly.

"The truth?" The magician nodded. "I wanted to have a twin or at least a sibling, I guess… Who had spent some time with my parents, so that he could tell me about them…"

"…" Billy sighed and passed an arm over Hulkling's shoulders. "Yes, maybe they were a bit too high." _It must be hard suddenly discovering that you're the son of Captain Marvel and the Skrull regent princess… And knowing that they've both been long dead._

--

"Hmmm… I suppose we should investigate more in Mamba's particular power."

"Yeah. I mean, something that can knock out anyone no matter his power… It's a pain in the ass." After Cap and the others had left the warehouse, it had come the matter of turning in their report to Tony. Cue Deadpool being tied up because he had immediately started to head towards She-Hulk's private quarters for the times she stayed at the tower. God knows why. He then sighed, removing his mask. "Well… What now? Do we get demoted or what?"

"Naruto, if I had to 'demote' someone every time they let a superhero get away, we would be out of Avengers." That was Tony's answer. Naruto sighed in relief at the smiling face of his boss. "The important thing is that you have managed to subdue all of them with little trouble and without injuring them almost at all." That made Naruto blink.

"How do you know it? I still haven't turned my report in…" Tony chuckled and pressed a button on the right side of his desk, and an holographic projection suddenly appeared in mid-air. It was… His fight with Diamondback seen from his point of view? "That…"

"I monitor all my heroes, Naruto. That was your first mission, so it's only natural that I was worried about your performance. Ah, by the way…" Naruto suddenly tensed, but he did his best to not show it. Wilson was snoring in his bindings. Tony closed the hologram. "When you suddenly became unconscious, the transmission of data dropped because of some interference… It was your arcane energy, by any chance?"

"Ah. Yes. It was a surprise for me too, to tell you the truth. Well, basically…" Naruto was becoming gradually better and better at that. Making things up and in such little time to make them believable. Also, his kind of 'lies' were nothing else but a distorted version of the truth. The face he was making empathized his 'trying to find the right words to explain'. "If by any chance my mind gets disconnected from my body, like how Mamba has done to me, my power kicks in auto. It protects my body from harm."

"Hmmm… I understand. It's useful, I suppose… It was a surprise, you said?" Naruto nodded.

"Yes. In my world there was no one able to separate my will from my body, you know… Or at least, I've never met anyone able to do so." And that was the truth. Tony rubbed his chin in thought.

"Understood. Well, for your first mission, you did remarkably. And your companion too, I must say." Naruto grinned and patted Deadpool on the right shoulder, who awoke from the narcotic induced slumber. Iron Man got up from his seat and began to walk towards his lab. "I'll be sure to write a letter of commendation for him to the government. Now, you're free to rest till we have a new mission for you. And… Will you see Wilson to the door, please?"

"Yes, boss." Naruto did a salute and then started undoing the chain bindings of Deadpool. "Guess what? We got praised."

"Hmmm… I want some Chimichanga…"

"What the hell is Chimichanga, by the way?"

In the meanwhile, in the security of his private lab, Tony was watching something, as in, the registration of the security cameras of the Warehouse. Unlike Naruto's mask, these one had not been influenced by his arcane power, and they had recorded everything that had happened right after Black Mamba had taken out both him and Deadpool.

"…" _A second personality? Or something else?_ From what he could see, it was clear that whatever had happened to Naruto in that few minutes was related to his arcane power. Now the question was… It was a cause or the source of it?

--

"HOLY BEA ARTHUR! THEY ROBBED ME! THEY STOLE MY STRIPPERS!"

"… Wade, you've never had strippers in your possession."

"Oh. Right." Tony had asked Naruto to walk Deadpool to the 'door', but the blonde had preferred to accompany him directly to his apartment. The mercenary immediately dropped on his favourite and only sofa. "Ahhh… I love this place. Well, not really. I'd like to be bigger. Cleaner. With more furniture. A bigger TV screen…"

"I got it, I got it… Alright, I had promised to teach you more about the transformation technique, right? But first I want to know." That made Deadpool blink from behind his Team Rocket get up. Naruto groaned. "I want to know what is it to you, being able to transform."

"Ah, that. Well, you see, there are a couple of things that you don't know about me. First thing, I'm not a mutant. My healing factor was the result of an experiment made on me by a… Lower branch of weapon X." That made Naruto's blink. Weapon… He paled. Wolverine's jailers? The same people who had created him had… "Second. It was made this powerful because other than for injuries, it has to account for the fact that I have cancer." That made Naruto pale even more. He… Then, Deadpool started removing his mask. "So all the experiments, plus the cancer and my healing factor fighting each other have helped reduce my face like this, other than affecting my brain. That's why I'm always… Myself." Naruto's eyes didn't widen, but it was like they had lost focus, seeing Deadpool's face. The only thing that he had seen ever remotely similar to that had been that examiner's head. "So, you can't blame me if I want to be able to change my appearance at will. This isn't exactly something that makes the ladies go wild."

"…" Naruto observed him for kinda a long time… And then sighed, scratching the back of his head. He had just learned something more. Mutants weren't the only super-people with super-problems, in the world. "I hope you're up for an all-nighter."

"You bet I do! Ninja!"

--

"Well… I suppose you still have to practice a bit. But I must say that it's impressive that in just one night…"

"Oh, come on! I wanted to look like Tony Stark, not Ozzy Osbourne!" Naruto sweatdropped at that. Indeed, Deadpool's version of Tony Stark had very fat lips, a long nose and very long hair. And he didn't know why, he was wearing a pair of glasses as well. He glanced at his right wrist, and saw that it was 7 AM.

"Well… I told you everything I knew. The rest is up to you, you know." He said. Deadpool snorted and dispelled the transformation.

"I know, I know… Uh?" Wilson turned around… To find Naruto's right hand extended. He looked at it like it was made of ice and about to melt. Naruto raised an eyebrow.

"It's a hand… To shake, you know."

"I know. That's why my common sense is tingling. The question is: why?" Naruto groaned.

"Oh, come on. It was a nutty partnership, but a good one. And I must say that all your rambling gave me a lot of new ideas for pranking people. And you're not that bad of a person to be around, you know." Naruto took Deadpool's right hand and put it in his own one, and shook it fiercely. "I mean… Friends?"

"…" Deadpool let his hand be shaken. And then, it came that moment when he had to be serious once in a while. "Well, I'll take it as a provisory friendship."

"Provisory?" Naruto blinked at that.

"You see, there's a lot that you don't know about me, padawan. Many things that I wish I had forgotten. We'll have to see if you'll still want to be my friend after getting to know them." Naruto 'Hmm'ed a little while crossing his arms over his chest.

"You're too complicated, man…"

"I know. Now go and destroy that fourth wall. And give a good one to your blonde groupie from my behalf as well."

"I w…" Naruto was about to reply that he would. He palmed his face. "I go before strangling you while asking how you know about Layla and that I'm going to see her right now even if it's 7 AM."

"I'll see you in one of the next arcs."

--

"Hmmm…" Layla stretched her arms while she woke up. Her first glance was to the clock. 7:30 AM. She let her eyes close for a few seconds, while focusing on the song that was playing in the air. 'Houses of Holy'. She smiled at that. From what she had come to know, in a couple of weeks there would be very little left of Holy, in her room. She put her feet down on the floor and slowly walked to the bathroom door. She opened it and then leaned forward to kiss Naruto on the lips, who was waiting for her just behind the angle. "Good morning."

"Hmmm…" He pouted and crossed his arms, and then walked outside the bathroom. "There's no fun in trying to scare a… Whatever you are."

"I know stuff. Let's just leave it at that." Layla walked inside the bathroom and closed the door behind her. "You'd better go and hide in my room till I come back. Jamie is going to wake up in five minutes."

"Alright, alright…" Naruto obeyed… Then he chuckled when he thought that she probably already knew that he wanted to take her out for breakfast.

--

"I'm glad that Deadpool didn't drive you insane."

"I had to get myself contaminated. I hope it fades soon, though." Naruto bit on his French toast. That was probably one of the best things that world had offered to him yet. "So, how are things going for you?"

"We've all been registered by one of Jamie's dupes. Long story." Layla played a little with the cup of hot chocolate in her hands, making it rotate, enjoying the warmth. "And you? Recovered yet from yesterday evening?"

"…" Naruto's chewing slowed down a little while she stared at her for a few seconds. He swallowed silently and then sighed. "I had a feeling you already knew what had happened… That's why I felt like talking about it with you."

"It's strange, right? Knowing that it basically was you that reduced those three girls in that shape. Because the K didn't have access to almost anything of his power." Layla took a sip from her cup, and Naruto would have noticed how incredible it was that she hadn't dirtied her lips with chocolate in the process. "How does it make you feel?"

"Well… On one side, a bit proud, since it means that I've gotten stronger since the first time I came here." He scratched the right side of his head. "On the other hand… I ask myself, what happens if I have to face someone who forces me to be that ruthless? What then?"

"… You'll just have to be, Naruto." That made the boy blink. He had expected everything but not that kind of answer. She smiled. "You're still a bit too naïve. Last evening, it's true, those girls deserved nothing of what your furry friend did to them. That was just gratuitous violence. But, I can assure you, there are people in this world that are as evil as him, and that force the good guys to be as ruthless as they are if they come to face them. That's also what it means to be a superhero, no?" Naruto's face had relaxed a little, and was now taking in everything that Layla said like it was the only truth of the world. "Swallow the pill. Do something that they wouldn't like to do when it is needed. Do you think Wolverine enjoys being 'the best at what he does'? But like he will say in the future… Well, sort of. He does that to make so that no other people have to lose that innocence that he has long since forgotten."

"…" Naruto stared at her for a bit more and then swallowed all his drink in one move, and then leaned forward, closing the distance between their faces. "You know that if we weren't in bar right now I would kiss the sweetness out of you? What have you done to me, to make me want to ravish you just by hearing you talk?"

"It's just me." She leaned forward and kissed him twice on the lips, slowly, the taste of chocolate still on her own lips. "And about the kiss, I say you take me touring around town on your ninja-shoulders when we finish eating."

"I'm your humble transporter, ma-am." He replied, stealing a last kiss before returning his attention to his breakfast. Layla smiled and stared at him, leaning her right cheek in the respective hand, staring at him while he ate.

"… Hey, Naruto." That made him suddenly stop eating to turn to her. "Have you ever faced big groups of enemies? Alone?"

"Hmmm…" Naruto scratched his chin and thought about it… Then shook his head. "Not really. Why do you ask? It will happen?"

"It could." Naruto wasn't really convinced but returned to eat nonetheless, shrugging his shoulders. Layla sighed silently. As much as she wanted to tell him, it would ruin the surprise.

--

Somewhere else, a couple of hours later, precisely in Los Angeles, Santa Monica Farmers' Market, a bigger gathering of superhumans was about to enjoy a nice morning among the various stands of the market, paying good attention of not getting in the line of sight of two shield employees guarding the entrance. They took advantage of the two's distraction.

"The Santa Monica Farmers' Market? Really?" Asked one of the two, raising an eyebrow behind his helmet. He just couldn't believe they had been appointed to guard such a… An… An unimportant place.

"Hey, now that most heroes are criminals, people don't feel safe…" His colleague replied, trying to justify his superiors, as strange as that can sound, right? "We've got to let them know that uncle Sam is picking up the slack."

"And 'uncle Sam' thinks these rogue superhumans are looking for a good deal on produce?" Hey, you never know. If they hang their tights, they could always look for a new secret work.

"C'mon, Chase, this place is awesome!" Molly Hayes didn't mind them more than needed the two. She was just that easily excitable, most of the time. Well, it suited a twelve years old girl. A mutant twelve years old girl with psionic super-strength. And it wasn't easy not getting along with her. "I hear they've got lemons that are actually sweet! Can you believe it?"

"That's great, Molly. Why don't you go look for them?" But Chase Stein was going through a certain phase of his life. That phase being: my girlfriend recently died and I'm being grumpy. Really grumpy.

"You don't want to come with me?" Molly put on her face her best impression of a beaten puppy. But that didn't get Chase to change his mind or his attitude. Sadly for Molly, she was probably going to be the one who he would let out his anger on the most, since she was the one always seeking his company.

"We've got grown up-stuff to do, Molly." Also, she was probably the one less likely to kick his ass, since Chase was the only member of the group without real super-powers. "You're gonna have to play by yourself!"

"What's with all the security?" The other blonde of the group, alas Karolina Dean, mighty rainbow-morphing alien, that's no joke, was the first to ask the question about the unusual security units.

"I don't know, but I don't like it. Let's take care of business and get out of here." Little did Nico Minoru know that they were probably the only people left in Los Angeles to not know about what had happened in Stamford and the current war between heroes. "You've got your allowance and your shopping lists, so have fun, but don't attract attention to yourselves…"

"Geez, Nico… Do you have to call it an 'allowance'?" Alright, she was supposed to be the head of their group, but with those terms, she sounded more like a mother. And all of the group's members didn't have a nice memory of at least one of their parents. In Chase's case his mom had died in the 'happy' family reunion. He just tried not to think about her too much. His newest focus of attention was a bunch of… Something on a stand.

"Why the interest in food, robot?" Of course, there still was their robot hating team-mate. Son of Skrulls, super-skrull in training. Meaning, he possessed all the powers of the Fantastic Four, but he could use just one at the time. Engaged to Karolina to prevent his planet and hers from destroying each other, it didn't go that way. They went back to Earth. Name, Xavin. "Do you want to act like a human that bad?"

"My name's 'Victor', Xavin." Replied the robot-human hybrid, putting emphasis on his own name. "And my mom used to make Tamales all the time, so back off."

"Mother?! A robot can't have a mother!" Said the Skrull, who usually stayed morphed in the shape of a black-skinned teenager. "On my planet you'd be dismantled for speaking such an outrage!"

"I'm a hybrid, alright?! And my mother was a saint…" Never touch someone who you really cared about. Victor was ready to fight… But he found the perfect revenge right there in front of him. "And watch your chin, E.T. It gets all skrully when you go dreamy-eyed over your homeworld!"

Indeed it did. Xavin immediately noticed it and reacted in a pretty much human way. He immediately brought his hands in front of his mouth and chin, waiting to get back enough self-control to shapeshift back in the right form.

"I think your mom was the best, Victor. I mean, at least she wasn't a super-villain like the rest of us…" Said Molly, being truthfully about that. Their little group, named the Runaways, had originated exactly from that.

The original group was formed by Nico, Molly, Chase, Karolina and their two deceased members. They had known each other ever since their childhood, since their parents were really good friends. One day they discovered that they actually were a group of twelve supervillains called the Pride. They were basically the lords of Los Angeles who planned on bringing on the end of the world and forming a new one, in which six people would become its Adams and Eves. They planned on their sons and daughters on being those six… Well, some of them.

Long story short, they had stopped their parents but at a great cost. Their deaths, and the death of one of their group, Alex… Even if he had never been really one of them. Even after their deaths, their parents caused the death of another of their group, Gert. So, that leaves a group of teenagers and teens who don't trust adults at all.

"Yeah, well, having Ultron for a dad kind of makes us even, doesn't it?" Indeed, it did. Even if they were supervillains of a certain calibre, Ultron was Ultron. They were a rather assorted group. Nico's parents were Dark Wizard. Chase's ones were mad scientists. Molly: evil mutants. Karolina: alien invaders. Xavin: skrull warlords. Little note. Molly's parents were telepaths. Makes you wonder where the hell she got her super-strength from.

"Your boyfriend sure is fitting in well…" Sarcasm was pretty evident in Nico's voice.

"He's not my boyfriend! She's my girlfriend… Sometimes. Kind of." Yeah. Because, flash-news: Karolina is a lesbian. Now, you have to ask, how did the engagement thing between her and Xavin go? Well, the answer is simply. I will just quote Xavin himself. 'Skrulls are shapeshifters. Changing sex is like breathing.'. … And that's why you have to ask before dating one.

"Regardless, I know skrulls have a hard time grieving for us lowly humans, but losing Gert is going to take more than a month to get over." Nico continued, glancing in the direction of her companions. "I don't know if Chase ever will…"

"It's hard for everyone, Nico." Karolina replied, her embarrassed state immediately leaving place to sadness. Gert was a true friend. And a true hero, if what they had come to know from the future was any indication… Along with the way she died. "You know for the first couple of weeks it actually made me miss my parents?" The alien-girl had blurbed out the last question mostly in search of consensus. She knew it was strange missing her parents after everything they had put them through. "I mean, didn't you? Just a little…"

"Our parents were evil, Karolina." Even if Nico's facial expression didn't change much, the tone of her voice immediately went to 'serious'. "If the Pride hadn't squeezed Los Angeles so well for so long, there wouldn't be all these villains trying to replace them. We could be living normal lives, and Gert would never have…" She stopped before finishing the sentence, knowing that more than enough had been said about her reasons. "No, I don't miss them… I blame them."

"Excuse me, sir? Do you mind if we take a look in your bag?"

"Yes, actually, I do." First person to question of the day, first troublemaker, it seemed.

"I'm afraid you don't have a choice, sir." Even if his companion could have kept the witty comment to himself. It was a tad too on the mocking side. 'I'm a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent and you are not. Gna-gna-gna.'.

"As an American citizen I have a right to privacy…" Replied almost instantly the large brown haired man who was about to just walk by, shrugging off the two agents' insistence.

"Hold it, buddy—"

"I've got this, Doug." The calmer and wiser of the two agents was trying to act professional, opposed to the G.I. Joe attitude of his colleague. He started to recite by memory what he was supposed to say in this kind of situations. "Sir, with the increased level of superhero activity, we have been given special license by the united states government to search any and all suspicious persons."

"Suspicious?! What the hell does that mean?!" The man was starting to get slightly angry, as he was starting to demonstrate vocally.

"Please relax, sir." Doug was starting to get nervous. Especially because the man was two times his size… He grabbed his weapon with both hands and held it protectively to his chest. "You are of above average physique and—"

"Fascist pigs…" Suddenly, Doug noticed something else. The bag was open… And the man was putting a hand into it. "You think you can regulate super-beings, the last truly independent power structure!"

"I said put the bag down!" Doug had voiced that last sentence with a loud voice, since he didn't like not seeing what was happening very clearly, since the man was giving him his cold, big back.

"I reject American sovereignty!" Said the man, while he put on the thing he had gotten out of the bag… A mask. A cape. But that was just a distraction. What he didn't notice was the enormous quarterstaff he was getting out of the bag with his free hand.

"He's got a weapon!" That shout from his friend got the attention of everyone in the hearing range, including Nico and Carolina, who turned around just in time to see the man's jacket turn into a cape and its wearer smash the weapon in Doug's right side of the body.

"I reject your nationalistic cult! I smash the flag of your oppression!" The man said the phrase putting emphasis on the word 'smash' while the poor S.H.I.E.L.D. agent got sent flying for meters.

"Chase! Go get the Leapfrog!" Nico immediately reacted. It was in those kind of times that appeared evident that she was the leader of their little ragtag group.

"What?! I can help take this guy!" Typical stubbornness coming from pride.

"You don't have any powers and you're the only one the 'frog listens to!" But she wouldn't have any of that with a supervillain on the loose. After taking care of him they would have to get the hell out of there right after, and they needed their method of transportation as soon as possible. The Leapfrog… Well, think of it as a sentient quijet. Only green and resembling a frog.

"Wait, is that Flag Smasher? Didn't we just fight him a couple of months ago?" Karolina managed to recognized their newest, but old enemy. Nico nodded.

"I guess leaving him tied to a lamppost with a note pinned to this shirt wasn't the best plan in the world…" Commented the goth girl. And as always, Molly found something funny in the situation…

"Ha, Chase! Gert told you that was a bad idea!" And managed to say words that she shouldn't have. At least she immediately covered her mouth, recognizing her error. Chase's glare came after. "Oh." That was what he needed to get out of there.

"I'll get the 'frog." He stormed out of there, Molly's tries at apologizing falling on deaf ears.

"G-God… Doug?" The other S.H.I.E.L.D. agent's first concern was his colleague's well being, as unprofessional as that was, since he had dropped his weapon and turned his back on the one who had reduced him in that state in the first place.

"I am the face of civilian disobedience!" But really, what he could have done against him, if he had just taken out a man with his same training and build with one blow? "I am the face of rebellion!" A man currently towering over them, probably about to finish his job. "I am the face of the new… World… Ord-AAAAARMPH!" His little fanatic speech got interrupted by Karolina who blasted him in the back with her ray of light of various colours.

"Los Angeles is under our protection, villain." And the speech was provided by her 'girlfriend', now fully skrull-mode, an arm in flames. Human torch.

"W-What are you doing? Don't you know what they're trying to do?" Not a clue. But that wasn't really the problem there, right?

"Victor, you have to cut me! I need the Staff of One!"

"I-I don't know if I feel comfortable doing that, Nico…" Victor seems to have taken everything, powers apart, from his mother. The thing was that Nico's power pretty much consisted in that she could summon a magical staff called the Staff of One, which was pretty much the source of all her power. Only, to summon it from wherever it was, even if it appeared from her stomach, she needed to bleed, even if just from a broken zit or biting her lip.

"Come on, they need me!" Never occurred to her that she could start carrying around a knife or at least a needle.

"J-Just wait, maybe I can take care of it. What are this guy's powers?" Since she couldn't always wait for others to injure her to do that. Especially if these others most of the time are your enemies. One shot is all many of them need, after all. She puffed her cheeks.

"I… I don't know. He's really fast… And strong too. I think he wears an exoskeleton or something under his costume." The girl replied. That earned a reaction from Victor. Hand to his chin, half-closed eyes. He was thinking.

"Exoskeleton? As in a metal exoskeleton?" Metal was the key.

"I'm not sure…" Nico just puffed her cheeks even more.

"Here, let me find out real quick." Victor started to walk slowly towards Flag Smasher, while Xavin dodged one vicious blow by lowering his head and chest.

"It's all about the consolidation of power! Hero registration protects the fascist nation-state!" The villain was getting ready for another blow, while continuing his speech that mashed together socialism, communism and some commentaries on the Vietnam war, probably. Bad thing that the guys hadn't gone to school in ages. And the same amount of time had passed since the last time they had seen the news. "Haven't you fools read Marx? Haven't you—"

"Sorry, I haven't been to a history class in months…" The feeling of a hand tapping his shoulder stopped him, since he found strange that anyone would go and tap him with his fingers, with the way he was waving around his weapon… Only to find out that the boy who had tapped him currently had his hands enveloped in some kind of azure coloured energy… Electricity? "But I can tell you that your exoskeleton is a complex aluminium/titanium alloy…"

"What?" The show of the magic lights ended in a few seconds, after which he couldn't feel his exoskeleton boosting his power and speed anymore. "How did you—"

"Molly?" Victor said, taking a few steps aside to let the 'Power Princess' do her work.

"Got it!" The girl took a running start and kicked the man in the ass, aiming high.

"Hmph. You cheated." Cue to him falling on his face right after, while Xavin tried to find a reason why he had been having problems with that guy while a mere robot had taken him out that easily.

"Because I fused his circuits with my electromagnetic control?" The hybrid replied, sarcasm evident in his voice.

"Don't listen to him, Victor! You're like a cool Magneto!" Meet Molly Hayes, X-Men's nerd and like-to-be Wolverine's bride… That was, before they tried to take her away from her friends.

"Oh my god…" Karolina was probably the gentlest soul in the team. There wasn't blood, but she still covered her mouth out of concern, when she saw the S.H.I.E.L.D. agent suffering on the ground.

"It's okay, Doug. H-Hang in there." He was going to make it. The blow hadn't been a killer one, but it still hurt, sadly for the poor man.

"We've got to get him to a hospital." Nico said, her concern evident. The agent turned to her.

"You…" And did something unprofessional once again. They had just saved their lives, for Pete's sake. "You've got to get out of here."

"It's okay… We're the good guys." Reassured him Nico.

"I-I know." Suddenly, an unnerving beep began to get louder and louder in the air. "I'm sorry."

"Sorry?" Nico was stranged out by the man's behaviour. "What for?"

"Nico…" Karolina was the first to found that there was a little too much red light in the air for it to be natural. The goth raised her head…

"We've got to get out of here…" And decided to follow the agent's advice, at the sight of the S.H.I.E.L.D. flying vehicle. Time to put the proverbial wings at their feet.

"What's going on?! Are we in trouble?" Asked Molly innocently. Nico honestly didn't know what to say.

"We're in something, Molly!"

--

"Hmmm… Uh?" Naruto had almost forgotten how fun it was to hang around with Layla. And he had learned how protective Jaimie Madrox was towards his friends. He had almost gotten the talk again in the middle of the chaos that had ensued from Layla going out with him for breakfast without telling anyone anything. And when he had excused himself after dinner for the night, Layla had already gotten out of him a promise to be her teddy-bear for a night. And now the loud beeping of his Avengers communicator risked to alert the whole apartement of his presence. He picked it from the floor and turned it off. "Well… I guess that one whole day of quiet was a miracle itself…"

"Didn't I tell you to not bring the work home, honey?" And it seemed that the thing had at least awoken Layla. Who looked absolutely cute in her pyjamas. But he still rolled his eyes at the sentence. He kissed her on the cheek, though.

"Sorry. But it's not a work I can take a vacation from. Not until…"

"Until you bring peace to the whole world and unite all the people under one flag?" Naruto blinked. Once. Twice. Then Layla laughed and kissed him fully on the lips. "Sorry, it was just a joke. No prophecies of greatness."

"… You almost gave me an heart attack." Naruto groaned and got up from the bed, adjusting his clothes. He then proceeded to walk to the window, and opened it. He put one leg out and turned around to smile at her. "Sorry for the wake up. I'll make it up to you. I mean, I'll see you a lot of time, as long as I stay in New York."

"That's true." Layla nodded… And then smiled deviously. Naruto blinked. What was in her mind, now? She suddenly put a hand on the lower hem of the upper piece of her pyjamas. "You know, I'll have a full C cup by the time I hit sixteen…"

"Ehm… What th…" Naruto didn't have the time to blush. He just fell out of the window and down two floors when Layla flashed him, hitting the ground hard, making a crack in the urban pavement. The girl walked to the window after pulling down the clothing again and put out her head to smile at him.

"It means that I outgrew all my bra. Bye." She waved at him and closed the window, leaving a red and hurt Naruto on the ground, who after a few seconds of staring at the now closed window let his head hit the concrete under it.

"I don't know if it's karma or divine retribution… Just in case, I love you, god."

_Continue…_

_In the next chapter…_

Naruto gets his most difficult mission yet. His first solo one. Alone, he is appointed to bring in the Runaways. Too bad that even the anti-registration side has his sight set on the small group of superhumans. What happens when the Young Avengers join the fray? Stay tuned.


	20. Civil War IV

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto nor Marvel… MEINOS SMASH.

**No Reading**

**Chapter18: The first who says 'Battle Royale' is going down**

"Hmmm…" After his return to Stark's Tower, Naruto had been showed an interesting movie. As in, registrations of what had transpired the day before in Los Angeles, around the time he was making… Some quality time with Layla. Short story, a supervillain had attacked the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents stationed at the place, and a group of young superhumans beat him. He laughed when he saw the little girl kick him into the stratosphere. Then, a S.H.I.E.L.D. flying patrol had arrived and attacked the group. His mouth almost gaped when he saw one of the group reduced to a piece of Swiss cheese… Only to relax when he saw that he was some kind of robot. So, it wasn't permanent damage. Tony turned off the TV after the thing was finished.

"So, what do you think?" Asked the current leader of the pro-registration front. Naruto thought about it for a few seconds and then decided to be blatant about his opinion.

"I think you should have those two women demoted or at least punished." Tony blinked at that. He wasn't expecting that kind of answer from Naruto. But he saw from his eyes that he was really irritated. "First, when they had arrived on the place one of their colleagues was badly injured. The priority should have been bringing him to a hospital, not hunting down the people who had stopped the real villain from finishing the work. Second, the public opinion is that we should be better than policemen, but those women fired without telling them to surrender first. That's something that should always be given."

"… I understand." Tony was impressed, even if he didn't show it. He didn't expect Naruto to suddenly start making those kind of considerations. Little did he know that while he helped Deadpool with the transformation technique and while he was passing time with Layla, he had made his shadow clones go over a lot of things. Incredible how much information his visor gave him. "But, what I meant was…"

"About them. Well, many things. They seem to know how to work together when needed and they have at least one with brains, in the group." He said, remembering how the robot guy had managed to defeat the guy with the quarterstaff in two moves. "Then, I can swear I saw a dinosaur inside that frog device thing. And finally, the goth girl is kinda cute."

"Indeed. Ah, by the way, did you, by any chance, go through the intelligence we had on them?" Tony already knew Naruto had done so. He didn't keep track of everything he did with his costume for nothing. He had passed through all the info they had on other superhumans of his age and their powers. The blonde nodded.

"Yes. Too bad it isn't fully complete." Little did Tony know, Naruto thought, that he had passed through all the info they had on other superhumans of his age and their powers. Just to see who he was supposed to make the public opinion forget. Tony chuckled at that. They had had one run-in with that little group, but it didn't end well.

"So… Do you think you can handle them?" Naruto blinked. Once. Twice. He cleared impolitely his right ear with his right finger to emphasize the point, other than putting his right hand to the ear.

"Excuse me, what?" Tony rolled his eyes. A more childish Spider-Man. Just what they needed.

"You see, we've already tried to make them join our side, but, it seems they have quite a few issues with trusting grown ups." Naruto blinked again at that… And snorted. One of the people who had stabbed his back was his same age. And he was the one person he probably trusted the most.

"So, you want me to try it? But… I think that's not what you meant by 'handle them'." Tony nodded.

"Exactly. You see, we're in quite a predicament, here. First thing first you should find out where they're hidden and then make contact with them, alone, since they wouldn't trust anyone who accompanies himself with an adult. But…" Tony raised his right hand with only his index finger stretched. "It's not likely that they will come quietly even after you talk to them about our dental."

"So… Basically…" _Layla, Layla, Layla…_ While Naruto understood yet again how Layla seemed to be his personal prophet, he rubbed his hands together, instinctively. "You want to know if I feel confident about handing them their collective ass in case worst comes to worst."

"Exactly. So… Do you?"

"…" Naruto thought about it. They had a Skrull with the powers of the Fantastic Four, a robot, a young girl with superstrength, an alien, a goth girl who could use magic and another guy. They worked together, but not well enough to give him problems, it seemed. Wow, thinking ahead. Would his mental growth ever stop? Well, he had an healing factor that became the more enhanced the more, and no one of the group had particularly enhanced abilities that could particularly inconvenience him or prevent him from actually doing damage to them. And if worse came to worse, as in 'natural born killers'… _Four tails is the way to go._ He grinned and gave Tony a thumb up. "Do you want them just tied up or properly package?"

"Just give the S.H.I.E.L.D. unit stationed around there a phone call when you're done. Now, there's a quinjet ready on the roof. You're going to the west coast, Naruto." Replied Tony, smiling. He had already guessed the boy would agree to the mission. If he had read his character right, he was looking for a mission where to make up for his precedent failure and impress him and the other people who had let him join the Avengers. That would be it.

--

"Incredible what you can do with jets that surpass Mach 2, hn? Coast to coast in… How much has it been?"

"Don't know. Don't have a watch." The S.H.I.E.L.D. pilot turned to him with an incredulous face. Naruto raised an eyebrow at that. "What?"

"In all that hi-tech your suite is made of, you don't have a watch?" Naruto blinked. He was kinda right.

"Hey, you're right. Let me see…" Naruto activated his visor and started going through the various functions… "Oh, there it is. In the upper-right corner."

"Told ya. Good hunt." The pilot saluted Naruto by raising a hand. Naruto didn't mind, even if he was pretty sure he would have had to salute militarily. He guessed that it was pretty easy to be laid back around him.

The first stop of the hunt was the neighbouring base of S.H.I.E.L.D., where the two agents who had been 'featured' in the video were residing. Well, not like one of them had much of a choice, being hospitalized. The quinjet had just landed on the roof, and one of the residing agents was leading him to where one of the two was waiting for him.

In reality, Naruto was pretty nervous, because… It was the first solo job he would ever since coming to that world. That and he wasn't used to that kind of work. Gathering information, putting it together, finding people that were hiding… Tony didn't tell him beforehand that he would have to do so. Hell, in his last work it was Deadpool who had taken care of that.

That was what was on his mind while he was led through stairs and corridors through the base, till he came to a closed room. He blinked. It wasn't going to be something like an interrogation, right? Well, he was going to handle it, so, no. The agent opened the door and Naruto walked inside. The room was pretty spoil. The only thing in it were a couple of chairs, a table and one unmasked S.H.I.E.L.D. agent sitting on one of them.

_Alright, alright. I can do this. Gotta make a good impression. Think of something neat…_ "Yo."

"Eh?" That was the agent's reply, while Naruto mentally kicked himself in balls. It seemed that there still was some Deadpool in his system.

"Ehm, nevermind…" Naruto shook his head and sat down on the empty chair, putting down also a datapad that had been given to him. It was useful to display things lime images and movies, to show around. "So, you know who I am, I suppose. I mean, even if you didn't know by yourself, they have told you."

"Yes, sir. You're Militia, one of the Mighty Avengers." Replied the agent, and Naruto immediately stopped him by raising a hand.

"Please, drop the 'sir'. I'm not used to it and I'm just 16 years old." He said, then he pressed a couple of buttons on the datapad and showed him the pics of the Runaways, all at the same time. Even if he couldn't see much, the agent understood who they were since he had seen them. "So… Basically, I'm looking for these guys. Seems like they're used to hide and run. So, even if I'm not used to do this, I have to investigate. So… Anything that could help me?"

"…" The agent thought about it. Thought about how those kids had saved him and his partner… And how they were now supposed to hunt them down. It just didn't feel right. But as he had already repeated to himself so many times, he was supposed to be a professional. "First, I don't think they think of themselves as superheroes. As in, they don't do patrols like Spider-Man or other superheroes to fight crime. They do not prevent, they cure."

"Understood. So, no use in searching the roofs of Los Angeles." Naruto scratched the tip of his nose, and removed the mask to talk to the agent face to face. "Hmmm… Help me here, because I'm not used. Alright, basically, their territory is in Los Angeles, right? And also, they will not be able to move out even if they wanted because they have an injured member, who's partly cybernetic. And unless they have some kind of wiz kid in the group, it's not medical help that you can find that easily…"

"Yes… But they had some kind of vehicle, though. So, the distance that they have travelled could not be that small." Suggested the agent, earning a grumble from the blonde-haired kid.

"Darn… Tony dropped a good hot potato on me. So, basically, I'm supposed to find a group of teenage superhumans who have managed to get away from he himself and the X-Men and have a lot of experience in running away and hiding, be it in plain sight or not." Naruto groaned and opened his datapad, switching between the various pics that had been taken during the attack. "While all I know is that they don't patrol and that they have a cyborg, a skrull and another unident… …" Naruto blinked. Once. Twice. Then, he remembered something. He was starting to act too much like a superhero, there. He was almost forgetting many things from the ninja world. To ninjas in his world, even of his own age, that kind of information was sufficient to track someone down. One particular person came to his mind. Now it would be even easier, since the Kyuubi was already enhancing his senses. "… Man, I thank you for being such a great listener."

"… Sir, if I may… Can I ask a favour of yourself?" Naruto blinked while he was putting on the mask and stopped. He nodded to the man. He didn't feel like reprimanding him again for being formal. "Those kids saved me and my partner. They're good guys, like they said… I mean…" The agent sighed, holding a hand to his face. Naruto kept on listening. "Just… Could you try talking to them before… Fighting them into submission?"

"…" Naruto grinned and put on his mask. "That's what I wanted to do, don't worry. I just want them registered, not very beaten up. Thanks for the information." Naruto walked out of the door and found the S.H.I.E.L.D. agent that had accompanied him there waiting for him.

"Did it went well, sir?" Naruto nodded.

"Yes, thank you. Now… Does S.H.I.E.L.D. possess some kind of… Scents archive?" To say that the agent was surprised was an understatement.

--

"Sir… If I may ask… What the hell are you doing?" After getting to know that, indeed, the S.H.I.E.L.D. had scent samples in its database, he had asked for a sample of skrull scent. What he had gotten was some kind of capsule that indeed, smelled.

"Shhh! I need to concentrate! It's the first time I do this…" Naruto remembered more or less what they had told him about Kiba. The dog boy basically gathered a lot of chakra in his nose to enhance his scent. His scent had already been enhanced and refined by Kyuubi, so, technically, he should be even better than him at the moment, with the amount of chakra he was gathering. He had asked to be brought at the farmer's market, and then had started sniffing around for skrull. And it was difficult. It wasn't just about finding the scent, it was filtering it. Especially in an area used as a freaking farmers' market. There were things with scents so strong in there that he couldn't believe they were legal. "Nggggh… How the hell can Kiba do this? Ah, right. He's trained on doing this ever since he was a toddler, while I'm giving it a first try at 16 years old while having the worst chakra control in the world…"

"…" The agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. still didn't understand exactly what the blonde was doing, bent on his knees with his face almost touching the ground. But he had understood it was going to take a while. "Should I ask someone to bring us lunch?"

"Nothing that has a strong smell, thanks… … Alright. What is tuna doing in a farmer's market?"

--

"Absolutely not."

"We were told to monitor for 'situations'. Well, we found one!" Patriot was undergoing one of his hardest test yet: trying to persuade captain America.

"Our forces are stretched thin as it is."

"And you want us to turn our backs on possible recruits?!" He said, his tone of voice still high. Cap was still adamant and as calm as ever.

"Make no mistake, Eli, a war is brewing." He said, trying to explain the situation as calmly as possible. "Thing are going to get bad. And you are my soldiers. My responsibility." He turned around, putting his personal end to the conversation. "You stay on site, where I can protect you." That said, Steve Rogers left the young batch of Avengers alone. Patriot gripped his right hand in a fist.

"What'd he say?" Asked Hulkling, he and the others reaching Patriot right after.

"No. And I don't think he's changing his mind… He had that look on his face…" Replied the leader of the group, turning around.

"Oh, like that look?" Commented Speed, observing the black-skinned hero's expression. It was the same as Cap's ones, as in, he wouldn't change his mind either. And that meant, they would sneak their way to the West Coast.

--

"_IwillfindthePride'skidsIwillfindthePride'skidsIwillfindthePride'skidsIwill"_

"The Avengers have a full dossier on these guys." The silence of the quinjet was broken only by Wiccan's chanting. It was maybe a bit strange, but every time he casted a spell, he basically had to repeat over and over what he wanted the spell to do while focusing. "It looks like Captain America had them put in foster homes at one point, but they ran away."

"I want everyone briefed by the time we reach the west coast." Patriot had already gotten pretty serious about their newest 'mission'.

"Hey, The goth girl's pretty hot." While Tommy was more focused on the pictures. "Do you think she's…"

"_IwillfindthePride'skidsIwillfindthePride'skidsIwillfindthePride'skidsIwill"_ That day he discovered something. He hated talking while his 'brother' casted a spell. _"findthePride'skidsIwillfindthePride'skidsIwill"_

"Hey, do you really have to do that every time you cast a spell?" He said, huffing. Teddy immediately defended his boyfriend.

"Do you really have to complain every time he casts a spell?"

"Are you sure you're all right, Vision?" Asked the currently small Stature, sitting on the cyborg's left shoulder.

"Yes. There must have been feedback in one of the video channels… I am fine." He replied. Indeed, you could call it feedback. Vision had 'visionated' the movie of the news about the failed capture of the Runaways. And when he had come upon the part where Victor had been smashed to pieces, he had reacted pretty much in the same way, minus the pieces, and with added sparks.

"You seem distracted… Am I bothering you sitting here?" Asked the shape shifting girl, oblivious that she was indeed the source of his distraction.

"Oh, of course not, I…"

"I hope we don't get in too much trouble for disobeying cap." With a gesture of incredible rudeness, though, the girl didn't wait for the cyborg to reply, she cut short the conversation and initiated a new one with Patriot.

"He was under stress and made the wrong call. These guys all have super-villains for parents…" Replied the boy, reassuring his team-mate. "Who's to say how much they can take before they go into the family business?"

--

"Hmmm… Ah! Finally! I found Skrull! I found the trail!"

"Pay up." The two S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, after finally understanding what Naruto had been trying to do, had put up a little bet. If he would succeed, of course. And it seemed like the blonde had finally managed to imitate Kiba's technique well enough to pick up a full trail to follow. Before he lost it, he immediately multiplied by twenty, and the clones all scattered in three different directions. The winning agent put the newly won money in his right pocket and cleared his voice. "Now what, sir?"

"Now we wait. My clones will find the rest of the trail and then dispel themselves every few kilometres, signalling to me location and road there." He said, stretching his arms and back, since staying crouched down to sniff the ground wasn't exactly a resting position. He made a sign with his right hand to the other guard, who launched him the thermos they had brought. Hot tea. He didn't like coffee much, and tea was more than enough for him, as a help to stay awake. "Just in time. The sun is beginning to set."

"When do we depart?" Said the guard who had just launched him the thermos. He scratched the back of his head.

"As soon as the first clone dispelles. I'd say five minutes." He opened the thermos and poured himself some tea. He took a sip, and he didn't bother to shout because of the boiling water. The burn on his tongue was already healing. "Ah, by the way… When they discover the place, you drop me a couple of kilometres from the point and then you go back, alright?"

"Can we ask why?" Naruto nodded, and drank the rest of the tea, after blowing on it profusely, of course.

"First, because we don't know if they have any means of detecting our jet, cloaked or not." He closed the thermos again, handing it to the agent again. "Second, because I will face them alone."

"But, sir… There are… Six of them." Naruto nodded.

"Yep. That's why I need you to stay behind. The fight could be hard enough without you trying to help. I don't want to disrespect you or anything, but… You couldn't do much against them, right?" The two agents looked at each other and then sighed heavily.

"Yes… The news show another thing, but, I suppose they just show how good we are in hunting people from atop helicopters and other flying machines which cost among the millions in US Dollars." One of the two removed his cap, exposing messy brown hair and a moustache.

"That's what I wanted to hear. I know they asked you to be my backup, but since it will be an order of mine, no repercussions. After all, this group managed to easily and literally kick the butt of a supervillain who put one of your colleagues in the hospital with a single blow." The still 'hidden' agent shuddered, while the other one laughed. He remembered the footage. Naruto suddenly blinked, feeling that one of his clones had disappeared. "That was quicker than what I expected… Ah. That's why. They started throwing each other. Let's depart."

--

"Oh god, I'm bored…" Being made of organic metal is very useful. It allows you to pull off the sacred technique of super-deformed, to further emphasize your mood. In this case, Cess had puffed her cheeks to the size of two basketballs, while she basically let herself melt onto the ground.

"Hmm… You're right…" Julian and the others shared that same mood. Everyone apart Laura, who had still to get used to those human needs for fun and entertainment. The telekinetic had resolved to amuse himself to make the other mutants in the room float around with his mind. He suddenly grumbled. "Damn that blonde…"

"I agree, you know? I mean, it's not like we're not having fun, actually…" Laurie said, letting her head drop from the couch, upside down. "It's more like... We had more fun with him around. Or better, you never know what he comes up with or makes happen…"

"… I agree." Said Laura, eyeing her necklace yet again. "The surroundings lack that feeling of uncertainty and whispered excitement…"

"That, and I need to make out!" Suddenly screamed Cessily, gathering the attention of everyone in the room to her. She didn't get embarrassed at all, though. She just put on a serious face. "What?! It's true!"

"…" Julian made some books hover to him. "By the way, who told him of D&D? He seemed to like the 4th edition a lot…"

"What?" Noriko looked at the books… There were the three core books and some other material. But what caught her attention was a handbook written by hand. She snatched it out of air. "Wow… What the hell?" She started going through the pages of the handbook. It was a campaign. "When did he have time to make up all of this… Ah, right. Clones…" Noriko kept on reading through the pages… Her eyes widened. She then blinked. Once. Twice. Three times. She then grinned. "… I'll DM."

"What?" Said Julian, incredulous. Noriko didn't have an inch of the patience to DM a game of D&D, in his opinion. The blue haired girl just grinned more.

"I'll DM. We just have to play this thing. It's incredible. That bastard can entertain us even while he's gone." She started to memorize the important points of the campaign. She so was to enjoy this…

--

"ATCHOOM!"

"What's wrong, sir?" Naruto sniffed and cleaned his nose with a tissue.

"Nothing. Someone must be talking about me." Naruto frowned. He hoped that fans didn't count for that kind of thing, or he would keep on sneezing no stop, probably… Ok. Maybe not that often, but still more than he would like. He then looked down from the thing again, and he saw the last of his copies waving at him from down. They were near the hills surrounding the city of angels, it seemed. He got up from his sitting position. "Alright, this is my stop."

"Should we get further down?" Naruto shook his head.

"No need for that. Just open the back door." Naruto walked to the said back-door of the flying vehicle, that opened slowly and with little noise, surprisingly. He now had a clear visual of his clone on the ground. He did a single hand-seal, and in a puff of smoke he had replaced himself with his clone, who disappeared on the plane right after. Naruto turned around and waved at the two S.H.I.E.L.D. agents with his hands, signalling for them to get further away. He then turned to the rest of the trail.

"Alright… Time to get cracking, someone said." He never understood what it meant, exactly, but just in case he cracked his knuckles.

--

"Jeez. We should probably start skipping the 'Friends' reruns and watching the news." Indeed. It seemed that while Nico and the others despised 'grown-ups', they were starting to understand that some of the 'grown-ups' habits were something they should take up. First thing, watching the news once in a while, since they were probably the only superhumans in the world who didn't know what had happened in Stamford and what was happening in their community. "It looks like we're…"

"The Avengers are trying to get to us?" With everything that the news had said, Molly had managed to get just that. Didn't know if she did it on purpose or it was some kind of filter to not make her even more dangerous for society… An hyper twelve years old with super strength and brains? The world is doomed.

"Karolina, what is the matter?" Xavin noticed that his beloved was uneasy about something. She kept on glancing in Chase's direction… Or better, Victor's. He was the one who had been tore apart. She covered her face, not managing to look anymore.

"Look what they did to Victor… Why would they do that?" If one could be sure about something about Karolina, was that she was one of the kindest and gentlest souls you can ever meet. She feels the pain of others, sometimes more than them. Xavin understood that and tried to comfort her.

"Yes, but we are lucky it was just a robot that was damaged, and not a real person." Emphasis on tried. Since he just got himself into a mess.

"Xavin, this is not the time for your robophobia schtick, do you hear me?!" Shouted Chase with an angry tone of voice, and his personal dinosaur growled at him as well, thanks to the link that made them share and synchronize their emotions… Yes. Chase has a personal velociraptor. Name's Old Lace. Last gift of his dead girlfriend. One hell of a gift, hn?

"How could you… G-Get away from me!" Karolina pushing him away and almost breaking into tears told Xavin that he had screwed up royally.

"I… I simply mean that repair is possible!" He was quick to try to cover it, though. Molly decided to help.

"That's right! I mean, you can fix him, can't you Chase?" Her words were meant to be of praise and encouragement, but it seems that Chase just wanted to be left alone for a long time.

"I don't know, Molly! #$%, give me three seconds here!" He barked, since he was angry like a rabid dog, it seemed.

"…" Molly shut up, but other reactions were involved. First thing, tears gathering in her eyes and a few hiccups. Second reaction, Molly running away. Finally, Nico's voice becoming a growl.

"Chase…"

--

"Hmmm… I suppose that's it." Naruto had climbed the hills while the scent kept on fading away. It thought it was strange since, coming closer to the source, it should have become stronger… But then it thought that a scent trail didn't stay fresh for much time. In the end, he had arrived in front of a cave with a jeep parked in front of the entrance. "That's the only hiding place in the range of a couple kilometres… That, and the jeep is a dead give away that there's someone inside…"

"Three seconds… I'll give you forever, you jackass!" Naruto almost jumped when he heard a loud voice coming from the inside of the cave. He dove to his right and hid behind a bush. He then slowly peeked out of it… Just to dive out of it when he saw a boulder coming straight at him. "Shit! She saw… Uh?"

"Idiot, mean, sphincterous…" Naruto noticed two things. First, that the girl had the practice of making up her own vocabulary, it seemed. Second, she hadn't spotted him. She was just angry and was throwing things around. Ah… Third thing. She had tears in her eyes and she was sniffing a little.

"…" He thought about it… She was one of the group in the news, right? He was there to bring them away, but he preferred to just persuade them… Well, he could start exploiting his natural charm with one at the time. He slowly made his way on top of a tree, and waited for her to come in front of it, hoping she would eradicate it… Fortunately, she just kicked it. He took something out of his right pocket. A handkerchief. He then stuck his feet to a branch of the tree and let his body fall upside-down from it, appearing in front of Molly, basically.

"That… AAAAAAH!" It seems he had indeed managed to surprise her, since she got scared enough to fall on her butt. He grinned and handed her the handkerchief.

"Seemed like you could use one…" He said. Molly just stayed there, observing his upside down situation warily. Naruto blinked at her inquisitive state. "What's wrong?"

"You're not a vampire, are you?" Naruto raised an eyebrow. Where did that come from? The girl frowned a little and then got back on her feet. "Vampires can hang upside down from things! And we've already had one vampire!"

"…" Naruto sweatdropped. "Ehm, no. I'm a ninja." He said, and dropped down from the tree on his feet. Molly just crossed her arms over her chest.

"I want proof! Show me your ninja stars!" Naruto sweatdropped. He had left those at the Avengers tower.

"Ehm… I don't have them with me. I sorta… Ran out of them… Ah, I know!" Naruto made a single hand-seal with his hands, focusing his chakra. "Henge!" Molly gasped a little when he got surrounded by smoke. When it cleared, she was staring at a perfect reflection of herself, minus the silly grin, of course. "So?"

"… That's so cooooooooool!" She said, suddenly hyper. Naruto dispelled the transformation and then handed her the handkerchief.

"Got some snot on your face." She stopped when she noticed that she indeed had some snot on her face. She frowned and took the tissue out of his hands in a hurry, delivering a critical 'proot' to the poor piece of fabric. "Don't even try to hand it back to me."

"Party pooper." She puffed her cheeks and launched the tissue right behind herself.

"So… Why were you crying?" He asked. And Naruto discovered that day that letting a kid talk without restraint is a risky thing. Very risky. Especially hyper ones like him… Or Molly.

--

"And then he said a bad word to me when I hadn't done anything! Anything at all! I just wanted to tell him how cool he was 'cause he could fix Victor 'cause he's the son of mad scientists 'cause… Meh. I wonder about that part…" Naruto was thankful for his mask, since it could disappear from sight while still being there and filter the sounds so that they became a couple of octaves lower. And while Molly ranted and he tried to get what he could from her thirty-minutes long speech, he started to ask himself…

_Was I really this annoying?! … No. Not this much._ Since the girl seemed to have reached the point and before she started dwelling in another speech about birds and bees, he stopped her. "Alright, alright, I got it… This guy has been a jerk…"

"A jerkass!" She said, making Naruto palm his face.

"Someone is making this happen and enjoying a twelve years old making new innuendo words…" He whispered. He then showed his face again and turned to her. "Alright. Now, can I ask you a question?"

"Shoot." She replied, dangling her feet from the top of the branch on which they were sitting on. Naruto smiled himself with closed eyes, and then asked candidly…

"What's your reason for acting like the group's buffon?" Molly's blinked owlishly at that, a bit taken back by his sudden question. Naruto grinned. "Don't try to deny it."

"…" She pouted a little and then held her head low. "Sorry. It's just that the last guy who figured it out tried to kill me…"

"Not me. I figured it out just because I used to do the same when I was your age." She raised her head again, looking at his smiling face, before he turned it to look forward once again. "So? Why the mask?"

"Nothing much… Just that if I tried to act like seriously like them, they wouldn't listen to me… Since I'm twelve, I'm supposed to act childishly… And eat lots of sugar and be hyper. Not that I don't like sugar." He rolled his eyes at that. She then turned to him. "What about you?"

"Nothing much… It was just the only way for people to even acknowledge my existence." She blinked again, before turning her head to look away from him. That sounded harsh. "Long story… But while I didn't have lots of brains, you seem pretty smart to me."

"No shit. So, want to tell me what you're doing here? I saw you on the news some nights ago, I think…" He raised an eyebrow at that. She watched news. She pouted and crossed her arms. "Alright, I was zapping and watched them by error. I wanted to see Heroes…"

"Well, then you know that I'm with the Avengers, if you saw me. And I suppose you know that I'm here because I have to turn you in." She nodded. "Then, why didn't you go back in to call for help?"

"Because if you would've wanted to beat the crap out of us you would have just hit me behind my head and bye bye Power Princess…" Naruto snorted, trying to refrain from laughing. Molly almost pushed him out of the tree. "You try and come up with a better name."

"Alright, alright… And?" He said, noticing that she had not finished talking.

"And… In case I had made a wrong call, if I don't come back after thirty minutes, my friends start worrying and…"

"Molly! Molly!"

"See?" She turned her head to the left and Naruto did the same, witnessing the rest of Molly's group coming out of the cave. It seemed like they were that worried about her, since they were even carrying Victor with them, out of the cave.

"Hmm… Maybe we should get down and…"

"Are you the Pride's kids?"

"Uh?" Naruto and Molly noticed a new arrival on the field. Another group of people… Wait, he knew them. He started a search through the S.H.I.E.L.D.'s database… The Young Avengers. That's who they were.

--

"You've been briefed on our situation in Los Angeles?" Asked Maria Hill. The girl had chosen to take some things in her own hands, even going behind Tony Stark's back. Including the situation with the Runaways. To take care of that particular situation, she had wanted to ask for collaboration from one of the… Unofficial facilities of the government. A 'Villain Rehabilitation Center'… Or so the Cube was called. The warden of the prison for extradimensional/terrestrial people was a mad scientist wannabe called… warden. Not a joke. He was now guiding the head of S.H.I.E.L.D. somewhere.

"Yes, yes… Your unlicensed 'Runaways' on the west coast are proving difficult to apprehend, correct?" He was holding his head and gaze low all the time while he walked, like the floor was more interesting than his interlocutor.

"The city sprawl and concentration of media make it hard to carry out operations with sensitivity." Explained the black haired woman.

"And you believe one of my special 'projects' may be the answer?" He put a strange emphasis on 'projects'. Hill had a ready reply for that.

"We have been give leeway to use your unconventional assets to bring the illegals in. Tony Stark has brokered a deal with…"

"What you need is a maggot." warden said, interrupting Maria Hill, who was stranged out by the unusual expression, voicing it with a clear 'Excuse me?'. "Society is a living, breathing organism, and superhumans are an infection that must be removed." They had arrived in front of a closed door. The man pulled out his personal pass out of his right pocket and passed it under a scanner. "In New York, your job is easy. Its gaudy "Heroes" are an obvious growth that can be identified and excised. But Los Angeles is different…"

"Yes. The children of the Pride are used to operating underground…" Replied the woman, showing that she agreed with the man's words. The door opened and they walked into a mostly dark room.

"An infection that contaminates society from beneath the surface…" Maria Hill got a bit bored of the man's speech. Or maybe creeped out.

"Can we speak in plain terms, warden?" She asked, plainly.

"Please, let me finish. After all, what good is your war if it cannot be wrapped in simplified ideology?" The two had reached what looked like an enormous tube full of boiling water. Maria noticed that the man had placed a hand on the tag placed on its base. "Maggots, miss Hill, thrive in carcasses, eating dead flesh. Placed in a living organism, they will seek out infected tissue and consume it efficiently…" He almost caressed the plaque, on which a single word was engraved. Noh-Varr. "Ruthlessly…"

The tube lightened, revealing just what was floating in the water. A body… No, it was alive. That was probably the purpose of all those tubes and machines connected and holding his body. But still, Maria couldn't help but stutter. It looked like a young boy, with silver hair…

"Wh-What is this…"

"This, ms Hill, is Noh-Varr. A Kree super-soldier, gene-perfected with insect DNA." He replied, observing his 'project', while a small smile made its way to his lips. "I believe he is just the maggot you're looking for."

--

"Now, I really wasn't expecting that…" Naruto and Molly had decided to watch how the meeting between the two supergroups developed. First thing, the leader of the Young Avengers introduced himself like this. 'We're the Young Avengers. You have to come with us.' Now, Naruto hadn't studied semantics or rhetoric, but he knew that that kind of sentence is pretty self-righteous. On top of that, he used it to introduce themselves to a group of people who had just lost a member who knows where. Then, there was the strange thing with the two cyborgs… Basically, all hell broke loose.

Till the girl with the staff calmed everyone with one of her spells. Naruto had to whistle at that. That was impressive. After the battle had ended without any injured ones, fortunately, Naruto had resumed his little chat with Molly. "So, she basically gives life to every spell she voices?"

"Yeah, but she can't use the same spell twice or madness ensues! Also, while she's the only one who can store the thing in her tummy, everyone can use it to make spells… Whooops." She covered her mouth with her hands. Partly because of the tummy part. Partly because… "You still want to… Bring us in?"

"Yep… And like you thought, if you don't comply after I talk, I will have to use force..." She pouted again. "… Come on. It's something right to do. I mean, if they hurt one of your friends but you couldn't exactly know who and where he was, wouldn't you be angry?"

"… Well, the thing is… There's a high probability that they will put us in foster homes or something like that… And we want to stay together." Naruto scratched his head, suddenly feeling a little more bad about that… Then, he snapped his fingers. "Hey! I know!"

"What?" Molly got a little stranged out, since she could almost see the proverbial light-bulb over his head. He turned to her with a grin.

"It's simple! I'll just say to the boss that your condition to register is to stay together as a… A supergroup! Like the Avengers! The west coast Avengers…" He said. That solved everything, in his mind. But before Molly could have a chance to tell Naruto that most of her friends would like to live normal lives instead of being a superhero, he had already picked her up and put her on his left shoulder. "Well, apart the lame name, that's a good idea. Let's go."

"H-Hey! Put me down!" He didn't seem to hear her much. He just jumped down from the tree and started to walk towards the two supergroups, who had been discussing about Victor's situation, when Naruto decided to make his appearance. The first ones to recognize him were the ones who had went with Cap to pick up the B.A.D. girls.

"Hey, isn't that… Tony Stark's newest boytoy?" Said Speed, not really remembering his name or supername.

"His name is Militia, Tommy… Ah." Patriot was the first one to notice the frowning girl upon his left shoulder, while Naruto wished his face mask back to life. "Hey. Isn't that… Molly Hayes?"

"What…" Chase turned to Naruto before he could even say hi and got angry once again, that day. "Hey! Then it was you! You damn bastard!"

"Eh?" Naruto blinked, too shocked to put up an immediate reply. "No, I was just…"

"Put her down! Right now!" Continued Nico, her staff not with her anymore, but her attitude still alive as ever.

"Hey! I didn't kidnap her! I was only…" Naruto put Molly down by his right side, but stopped talking when he noticed that someone was already attacking him.

"Preying on the weak… You disgust me!" That someone being Xavin, still pissed from a few minutes before. Naruto parried the blow… But he didn't expect the Skrull to suddenly acquire the Thing's powers. Result, his hands and wrists got crushed and he got thrown back a few meters.

"H-Hey! He wasn't… Ah!" Molly tried to explain the situation, but Karolina had already picked her up and transported her to 'safety'.

"Argh!" Naruto winced. His hands hurt like hell. But he couldn't relax, since it seemed that someone else had joined the fight. One of the Young Avengers. The one with white hair… Speed, was it? He immediately understood why he had used exactly that supername when he felt something like four punches hit him at the same time in different points of his body.

"It's alright, Molly. You're…"

"I wasn't in danger to begin with!" What made Karolina and the others surprised was more the words used by Molly that what she had actually said. "He didn't kidnap me or anything, you idiot!"

"Eh? For real?"

"Ehm, yeah… That's what I tried to tell Tommy before he joined the fray too." Said Wiccan, rubbing the back of his head. Teddy sighed.

"And Stature too."

"Hey! I didn't come here to fight… Well, not necessarily. I… Ungh!" The poor Naruto got thrown away by another punch to his gut from Xavin. And before he could even react, an enormous shadow was above him. It was like the moon had been obstructed by… A giant hand?

"Goodnight." Stature.

"Mommy…" Naruto. Smash.

"…" Patriot palmed his face. "Maybe some of us really are no better than our grown ups counterparts…"

"Good thing he has a healing factor."

--

Some few miles away, in a flying, cloaked vehicle over the skies of Los Angeles… A captive had been let out of his prison because he was needed to do something. And he was being brought to the place where he was needed to be.

"_I__ can't say we're completely comfortable with you escorting the specimen to the site personally, warden."_

"I'm afraid that is quite necessary, ms Hill." The man was now conversing with the director of S.H.I.E.L.D. through a screen. "You see, our boy was stranded here with an army of interdimensional Kree, all linked by an alien supercomputer. A living hive-mind." He then turned to the now free Noh-Varr, curled into a sitting ball in the corner. "When his compatriots were slaughtered, this was the only friend the poor Noh-Varr had left." He raised the alien's head with one hand, by the chin. "We killed the bloated intelligence, of course. Its multi-dimensional ideas were far too dangerous… But the boy seemed so lost without it, I took it upon myself to mimic its voice. I had unlimited access to his consciousness." The man then grabbed his head with both hands, a maniacal grin making its way on his face. "Oh, the fun I had stomping around in his mind… As a result he takes orders from me directly."

"_Please spare me the details, warden. Just assure me that 'your boy' is capable of dealing with our problem."_ Unlike the warden, Hill didn't take pleasure in doing many of the things she did, so she decided to just get to business.

"Yes, yes. Our intel says there is a skrull amongst your 'Runaways'." He took a little cylinder out of his right pocket and pushed into Noh-Varr's nose. "I only have to upload a scent from one of the Cube's many skrull captives." He then started to pull him by the same nose to some kind of capsule. "He may be a kree from another dimension, but he is a Kree all the same. He will find their skrull member within the hour. Did you hear that boy?" He then pushed him inside the little pod with his feet. "Fetch." Before the thing got dropped in the middle of Los Angeles.

--

"Hmmm… Did someone see the truck that ran over me?"

"He's waking up!" Naruto groaned, his head still spinning from the blow. He had a healing factor, but he wasn't invulnerable… He blinked and tried to get up… Only to find out that he couldn't move his hands. He tried to apply a bit more strength, but, anything. They were tied up, it seemed… He got up in a standing position by doing a little somersault, almost hitting Karolina in the face. He observed his hands… They were tied by a steel rope. Molly pouted. "They insisted…"

"… At least you didn't kill me in my sleep." He said, looking with a glare at the group of people around him. It included Karolina, Patriot, Nico, Hawkeye and Molly. "I just wanted to talk."

"Well, Molly said that it was the first approach.. What, no. Scratch that. When we refused, what would have happened?" Inquired Nico. He sighed heavily.

"Oh, come on. I mean, what's the big deal? If all you want is staying together, it's not a problem." Naruto replied, remembering what Molly had told him.

"As usual, Molly didn't really get the point. We don't want to be superheroes. We're just doing what we can because the situation in Los Angeles is our parents' fault." Naruto blinked. That, he wasn't expecting. Nico crossed her arms over her chest. "And we don't want any part in all this grown up stuff."

"… Eh?" Naruto raised an eyebrow at the 'grown up' stuff expression. "Wait a minute, wait a minute. I didn't get the last part…"

"All this Civil War stuff, the Superhuman Registration Act… It's just between the adults. We don't want any part in it, like we were trying to say before." Nico groaned, holding her head with one hand. "Incredible… In just one evening we have had both parties searching us out."

"…" Naruto shook his head. "Alright, let me open your yes a little… 'Child'." That word on which Naruto had put emphasis with his tone had managed to tick off Nico, thus getting her attention. "The Civil War, I agree, is a stuff made because the 'grown ups' couldn't get along and find a way out of this civilly. But as you've seen, I didn't come here because I wanted to crack your head open. I wanted to talk. And, like it or not, the Superhuman Registration Act is not 'grown up stuff'. It's something that concerns everyone who has superpowers."

"Not if we can do something about it." Commented Hawkeye. Naruto snorted.

"Good luck in getting depowered, girl." Hawkeye was a little taken back from that reply, mostly because she wasn't exactly a superhuman. "The problem is that the people are now afraid. And they want to be sure that people able to take apart buildings are controlled. They've started asking themselves 'Who watches the Watchmen?'" Somewhere else, Deadpool cried in pride, feeling that Naruto had just broke the fourth wall both in space and time. "And why shouldn't them? What if you suddenly went from goth to emo and suddenly wanted to suicide but failing to do so you took out half a state?"

"Now, listen, you little…" Patriot stopped Nico from lunging at Naruto. He was just talking, even if ticking her off wasn't exactly the best course of action.

"The problem is not that we don't want to take responsibility, Militia… But the point is, we can't trust just anyone with our private lives and identities. We don't have the right to endanger our families and friends." The leader of the Young Avengers seemed more prone to talking than the others, it seemed. "There are some of us who keep their identities secret from even them."

"Registering ensures you a protection from that and a protection for your families too. It would even make easier to get help from other heroes, savy?" Naruto said. He had been somewhat preparing that speech.

"It's not other superhumans that we don't trust… What Cap is afraid of, mostly, is the government." Replied Patriot yet again. Naruto raised an eyebrow yet again at that.

"The government? What do you…" But suddenly, the talk was over, it seemed. Everyone's attention got drawn away because of a sudden, loud, 'crack'. Who wasn't looking in that direction, turned around… And what they saw froze their blood.

There was yet another newcomer on the space… But this one hadn't come to talk. Since, he hadn't make himself noticed before snapping Xavin's neck and saying 'Next'. The silver haired teen then dropped the now seemingly dead skrull to the ground, under the eyes of everyone around. The first to react was Karolina, of course, transforming into her 'full power' state.

"Oh my god! What is happening?!" She asked. Teddy was more focused on the person that what he had just done.

"Who is that? Why isn't he moving?"

"He—He's killed Xavin! He…" Before Karolina could finish talking, Noh-Varr had already landed a vicious right hook on her face, knocking her out with just one blow. Wiccan was already starting to react, chanting a spell.

"_Iwantyouto—ACK!"_ He couldn't even finish the first repetition of the spell, since he had made the mistake of coming to close range to the Kree, who landed a blow on his throat, making him unable to talk or even breath. Second one out.

"Bil…" Again. Teddy was about to get into action, but it seemed like their enemy knew that it would be a bad thing if he did. He immediately ran in front of the hybrid and smashed both his open palms on both sides of his head. "Ly?" That blow stunned him long enough to allow Noh-Varr to land yet another blow, under his chin. Three down.

"Oh my god! Who is that?!" Hawkeye was already getting her bow out. Nico put her finger in her mouth, about to bite it, but first she turned glaring to Naruto.

"Don't tell me. You've brought back-up." Naruto's eyes went wide.

"What?! I don't…"

"Molly, stay here and guard him!" Nico ran forward as well, while the Vision phased its arm through the enemy's chest. But the kree didn't seem to mind much, since he just snapped it from the rest of the body and fell down to the ground with the arm still embedded into his chest. He landed near Victor, and was about to finish him off, in his weakened state… When suddenly Cassie discovered her attitude to being an American football kicker. Only, she was several meters tall when she kicked Noh-Varr away.

"…" Naruto just stared and looked at the unconscious or worse forms of the people around him. "This… Who was that guy?"

"You really don't know?" Molly asked, looking up at him with inquisitive eyes. Eyes that told 'please tell me you have nothing to do with this'. Naruto shook his head fiercely.

"I swear I don't know who or why that guy is here attacking us! I was sent here alone!" Molly frowned a little at that.

"Alone? Against six of us?" Naruto nodded. "… It's too dumb to be a lie."

"Victor, are you alright?!" Nico and the others had just approached Victor, who seemed to be getting somewhat back together.

"Is it hard to ask me that with a straight face?" But judging from his voice, he wasn't completely healed yet.

"Listen, Molly! You have to get me out of this thing!" The blonde pleaded Molly, who was unsure about what to do.

"But, Nico said…"

"Come on! I think that this is not over yet! I…" Naruto was the only one to notice a shadow approaching very quickly from behind the group. "Hey! Watch out!"

"Gak!" Before anyone could react, Noh-Varr was back, grabbing both Stature and the Patriot with his hands and throwing them against Speed, who didn't manage to get out of the way fast enough to dodge his pretty heavy teammate, smashing his head against a tree.

"G-Guys!" Molly ran to their help as well, forgetting about Naruto, it seemed. The blonde groaned and then started to pull against the steel rope.

"Come on, come on… Oh, the hell with this!" He gathered all the chakra of his body in his arms and wrists, to enhance his power. Else he snapped his wrists again, or he snapped the rope. He heard a first crack and pain at his wrists while Noh-Varr used Kate's arrow to knock out Stature and make her fall right on top of Molly, who couldn't do anything but use her superpowers to not be smashed to the ground but Naruto, reducing the group's fighting force to just Chase, Nico and herself. Plus a still frozen Old Lace. He pulled even harder, gritting his teeth. "COME ON!"

--

"I don't feel good about making an extraction while we still have active hostiles…"

"My kree cockroach will keep them occupied. He is so efficient it's almost boring…" The warden observed with glee his new captives. The first four specimens his 'cockroach' had taken out, all properly restrained. "Or maybe it's just been too long since I've gotten anything new to play with." He continued, observing the now iron-faced Hulkling. "Gentlemen, to the Cube."

"And Noh-Varr?" Asked one of the warden's subordinate. The man started to walk away.

"Is he within range?" He asked, getting an 'affirmative' as a reply. He sighed. "I suppose we should retrieve him then."

"Yes… Ah. Warden." The man stopped when one of the soldiers called for him. "It seems there's another superhuman in the zone. He seems to be about to join the fray."

"… Another outlaw?" The man shook his head.

"Negative. It's registered… Oh, god." The man checked the database. And he didn't like what he saw. "He's an Avenger! Militia!"

"…" The warden hurried to the screen and observed it, cursing silently right after. They were taking those captives to the Cube illegally. If he reported… "… We stay in zone for a little more."

--

"Huurk!" Kate rolled her eyes in the back of her head as she fell unconscious, her throat squeezed till she lacked enough air.

"G-Get away from her, you %$#! Sunburst!" Nico shouted, holding the staff of one in her hands… Nothing happened.

"You already used that one, Nico!" Chase told her, while still rubbing against Old Lace to get her out of the cold-induced dizziness.

"Hellfire!" Tried again Nico. Nothing. Noh-Varr tossed Hawkeye aside and started slowly walking towards her. And the goth girl suddenly got scared. "Ch-Chase… I need help! Acid Rain!" Again nothing. He was basically in front of her. "Di…"

"Quiet now." The kree had gotten close enough to grab a hold of her neck. And she was about to snap it like a twig when… Someone finally managed to land a solid hit on his face. The impact was so violent that he let go of Nico's neck, letting the girl fall to her knees to regain breath. He trashed against a tree, but he didn't lose his focus or his consciousness.

He raised his head to see a newcomer standing in front of Nico. He had blonde hair… And he was currently covered in some kind of red glowing energy, surrounding his entire body. Also, he seemed pretty pissed off.

"You really are the worst magical girl the world has ever seen…" Commented Naruto to Nico, but he focused immediately on the quickly recovering Noh-Varr, while the warden talked to him in his mind. The message was clear.

_That man must be taken out._ The kree got back on his feet, and immediately launched himself at Naruto again.

"You want them?! Then come and get me first!"

_Continue…_

_In the next chapter…_

After a brief confrontation against the kree captive Noh-Varr, Naruto joins forces with the remaining members of the Runaways and the Young Avengers to free the other ones. And Naruto learns that his side isn't as transparent as he believed it to be. Stay tuned!


	21. Civil War V

**No Reading**

**Chapter19: Doubt**

Noh-Varr had a peculiar ability that his captor called 'White-Out'. As in, he could make so that his mind became focused on what regarded the battle he was fighting only and get a degree of foretelling into the next few moves of the fight.

That was how he had managed to predict, counter and defeat in so little time Karolina, Hulkling and Wiccan. Since a new enemy had come onto the scene he had done it again… And yet… No matter how many moves in the future he saw, he still found himself fighting him.

"Ahhhh!" Naruto didn't wait for the Kree to make another move. He took initiative and charged at him, trying to punch him in the face. Noh-Varr slapped his arm up, and then prepared to counterattack him with a chop to the side of his neck. He didn't expect Naruto to suddenly stop and make a somersault from his standing position, kicking him above his head. Eh. This reminds me of when Lee did this same move against Gaara.

Unlike the green-clad shinobi, though, Naruto didn't stop there. He knew that that kree was going to counter attack when he landed, so he didn't land yet. He pushed himself back into the air using his hands, putting them on top of the alien's head. "Not yet!" He landed a few meters from Noh-Varr, who, though, had already turned around in his direction and rushed at him. "!" _So fast…_

He was fast indeed. Naruto barely parried the open palm to the ribcage, which proved to be a feint to hit him in the face with a punch. "Ngh!" He then saw the alien trying to kick him in the side of his head. He reacted and bent backwards, meeting the Kree's shin with his own shin.

"…" The alien noticed that in the meanwhile Naruto was fumbling with his hands. He released the 'shin-hold' and got back, just in time to dodge a volley of energy projectiles that Naruto had launched at him by swinging his arm.

"Argh!" Naruto fell on his butt right after. It wasn't easy to swing his arm that wide while standing on just one feet. He observed how Noh-Varr dodged the projectiles with ease. _He's much faster than a normal human… Maybe as fast as Lee when…_ No, not as fast as Lee after going super saijan or something. But without the weights, yes. That was the speed of the enemy now in front of him. It moved at an incredibly high speed. So much that he had troubles following him and reacting in time. His hand went for the bracelets… _Here goes three._ With a sharp turn, Naruto's body burst with red light, while he gathered the released energy inside his body, channelling it to his muscles.

"… Alright." Nico honestly didn't understand what was happening. The blonde had right-out said that he was there to bring them in, so, why was he fighting someone who could have basically done the dirty work for him? It made no sense. But the point was, he was defending them. She turned to Chase. "Don't know what the hell goes through the blonde's mind, but we might as well take advantage of it! You keep on warming Old Lace!"

"And you?" It was very hard to warm up a cold blooded creature, Chase discovered that day. Nico rose her staff to the sky.

"Wake up!" She screamed. The staff flashed with red light and in a few seconds, everyone began to come back to their senses.

"Aaaah!"

"…" In the meanwhile, Naruto and Noh-Varr had come to some sort of stalemate, since they were both gripping on each other's hands with their own ones, trying to crush them. But it seemed that no one could overpower the other.

--

"…" The Warden was biting his thumb at the scene. Just who was this boy? Two whole teams of superheroes had fallen before Noh-Varr, but this one was holding his ground against his cockroach… But salvation came in the form of the data from the computer. Judging from what he read, the boy had been in the team less than a week. And since it seemed like he had come there unaware of Hill's parallel intention… He would not be able to relate Noh-Varr to the Cube in any way. And he knew how to take care of the higher ups. "Extract Noh-Varr."

--

"Grr… You're a though one, hn?"

"…" The stale-mate was still going on. But Naruto noticed something. While he could feel the pain in his fingers and showed it by gritting his teeth, his opponent wasn't doing anything of the sort.

_Gotta get away from him…_ Naruto broke the hold and jumped back, and then launched himself at Noh-Varr once more… Just to blink and stop suddenly because of something that really 'wtf-ed' him out, in internet slang. As in, an enormous hook or something falling out of the sky, grabbing his opponent and bringing him back up in the sky. "…" He stared at the disappearing Kree in the sky till he couldn't see him anymore. "Alright. What the hell did just happen?"

"What the hell was that? A mecha attack?" Naruto scratched the top of his head and turned around, seeing that it was Speed the one who had just talked.

"Hell if I know…" He observed the clearing, watching as everyone came to their senses. "Is everyone alright?"

"More or less…" Said Cassie, still in her gigantic form… But even if she still felt disoriented she noticed Naruto's blush and stare. "I know it's not easy to do, but please stop staring."

"Ehm, sorry. Just thinking you could give a… Friend of mine a run for her money." Naruto turned around and coughed in his right fist. Gigantic breasts ahoy. Tsunade who? When he turned around she fortunately was back to her right size. "So… Does anyone know who the hell was that guy? Before you ask again, he was not 'backup'."

"That I noticed. You stopped him from ripping open my windpipe." Nico commented, sighing heavily. "No, seriously. Why? I would have understood if you had engaged him after he had knocked out everyone, but you went in and defended him."

"As I've already said…" Naruto sighed as heavily as her before crossing his arms over his chest. "I'm here to bring you in all in one piece. Who did you take me for? I want you in line with the law, not in a coffin of ash."

"Ehm… Alright. We may have…" Cue everyone turning to Nico, who blushed because of the unwanted attention and puffed her cheeks a bit angrily. "Alright. I may have…" More staring and a large grin from Naruto. Nico's forehead twitched. "ALRIGHT! I HAVE JUDGED YOU TOO HASTILY! I HAVE MY MONTHLY THINGS, GODDAMMIT!"

"Alright, ignore the PMsing magical girl." Naruto said, and Molly and Chase had to hold back Nico at that, while he turned to Patriot who seemed a bit more reliable. "Any idea who the hell was that freak and why he started attacking you?"

"Our assailant was named Noh-Varr. An interdimensional Kree refuge." Everyone turned around at that, Naruto first. His eyes widened at the stumbling form of the Vision. He hurried to his side while he kept on moving forward. "He was working with a Black Ops team… He helped them capture Teddy and Billy…"

"Woah, slow down. Sit and take some breath!" The blonde said, realising that the cyborg was missing an arm… And also that he didn't know shit about first aid on someone made out of cybernetics parts.

"I do not need to breath but I thank you for your concern." The Vision sat down nonetheless, following Naruto's advice. More to put him at ease than nothing else. "My psycho-kinetic dispersed my processing power throughout my body… When part of me was lost I was incapacitated while my CPU adjusted. I was unable to stop them…"

"Easy. It's alright. That guy was no pushover." Naruto cursed. That guy was so ruthless to even take off a whole arm of the guy… Uh? Why did he feel hot on his chest, suddenly… "Argh!" The small explosion frightened Naruto more than injured him. He fell on his butt. He took off the jacket and observed what had happened. His chestpiece had exploded and… "Hey!" He had to take off his mask as well, since he couldn't see anything anymore. "What…"

"I'm sorry. It seems like my powers are still out of control. It seems I sent your CPU haywire." Explained the Vision. Naruto groaned.

"Alright. Never approach wounded cyborg people while wearing something electronic." He scratched the top of his head, thinking about his words. "Capture… You mean that after he knocked them out someone came and took them away?"

"Yes. Xavin was the only one mortally wounded. They took away his corpse as well." Naruto could feel Molly gasp behind him. He gritted his teeth and put his mask in one of his jacket's pockets before putting on the jacket again.

"Alright. We've got to help them, then." Nico immediately tensed at that.

"And what's your plan? Calling S.H.I.E.L.D.?" She then turned to Patriot. "Or maybe you want to go tell Captain America and the rest of the 'grown ups' that we're in trouble?"

"First, drop the whole grown-up shtick. It gets annoying after the first two times." Naruto said, turning around to her. Nico was ready to bark at him again, but she found her words stopping in her throat when she saw his eyes. They were still red, and were showing something… A mix of anger and determination. "Second, I would be enough to send that bastard and whoever came with him to hell and back. We're a whole group of superhumans, here."

He turned around, his face still the same, even if his eyes were slowly turning back to blue. "I've already faced something like this. This is one of the main reasons I joined the Registration side. To protect superhumans and normal humans from each other. Especially when they start kidnapping people because they want to experiment on them or something." He gripped his right punch in rage and raised it in front of his face. He couldn't help but think of Cessily the second he heard the Vision say the word 'capture'. "And finally… Boy, girl, grown-ups, toddlers. I don't care. If someone pisses me off, I just punch the life out of him. End of the story. And I'm particularly pissed off, right now."

"You tell them!" Molly cheered. Naruto lowered his punch and smiled at her, before turning to Patriot, asking him if there was a way to track them down. While Patriot explained to him that they could do so thanks to the Vision, Nico was still staring at Naruto… She shook her head. Honestly, she was starting to agree with who called her a… Nevermind. She feigned having heard everything the Patriot had said and turned to their other member. "Chase?"

"After Gert I never wanted to see another one of my friends die. I would have given anything to stay out of this 'Civil War'." Naruto turned to Chase as well, while… He blinked. Dawn? Already? He shrugged it off and returned his attention to the 'Dinosaur Tamer'. "We tried to run away from it, because we thought it was just between the adults…" He was talking with his eyes closed… But he suddenly opened them. And Naruto couldn't help but like the look in his eyes. "Now we're in it. Like it or not. The time to be Runaways is over…" Naruto didn't know how the hell they had suddenly ended up all in line next to each other with dawn behind them, but he wished someone could take a shot. "It's time to do some avenging." It would make one hell of photo.

--

"The door opens to reveal… The white queen's chambers. She waits for the group in a very revealing outfit, made out of white satin and the finest sil…"

"… Just… What are you doing?" The group removed their attention from the game when the voice of Emma Frost began to echo in the room. The headmistress had found strange that the group had suddenly started moving furniture around, and found even more strange that they had started playing D&D… But the story itself…

"Ah, Miss Frost! Want to co-DM?" Noriko said. The white queen wasn't amused at all. The blue haired girl sighed and handed her a book. It seemed like she was deliberately not using her telepathy, in that case. To hear an explanation out of their own mouths. She took the handbook and started reading through it… "Naruto thought up of this campaign, and I think he did so for us…"

"Considering who's inside it." Julian smirked while toying with the miniature of his character. It was good to be a Wizard. An Eladrin one.

"…" Emma kept on reading through the thing… And she didn't like what she was reading inside it. It seemed like while the students were the heroes, the teachers were the villains in that 'campaign'. But most of all… "… My character is… The leader of an evil red-light quarter?"

"Man, I spent half of my loot just for one night." Santo said. Cessily glared at him.

"That's why we have to go and save your dragonborn ass in the first place. I hate sidequests!" Laurie chuckled when she thought that he had probably thought about it.

"…" Emma handed Noriko back the handbook, and put aside her anger to focus on another surfacing thought. She was starting to believe that the blonde Militia had unknown telepathic power. He knew that not even David had talked once about D&D in his whole staying at the school, and he was that group's geek. How the hell did they suddenly develop an RPG culture?

--

"At-chuuum!"

"Bless you." Hawkeye then handed him an handkerchief, which Naruto accepted gladly.

"Sniff… Thanks." He blew his nose a bit louder than humanly possible, but it was ok. "Damn, either someone is talking about me…"

"Or these cliffs are quite chilly, in the morning. And they are." Commented Chase, rubbing his shoulders. He should start taking around a jacket, he thought. Naruto shrugged it off and focused on the structure they could see deep in the valley.

"How is it?" He asked Patriot, who had been observing the place with a pair of binoculars.

"We could be in trouble." Replied the ebony skinned teen. Chase gave a sceptic shrug.

"I don't know… It doesn't' look that bad." Chase had expected the thing to be more well protected and bigger. It looked almost 'puny'.

"Do not be fooled, Chase Stein. The cluster of holding cells known as 'The Cube' is largely underground." Naruto was sincerely impressed by the Vision. He was like a limitless source of intel who could think by itself. How useful was that? Other than he was a really nice guy, it seemed. "It is classified as an 'Infinite Security Facility'. Extracting our friends is virtually impossible."

"As in, if we try to simply break in we're screwed? Too bad." Naruto said, snapping his fingers. He really wanted to bash some heads in. He narrowed his eyes at what he could see of the structure. "Cluster of holding cells… What exactly is this place?"

"It is a holding facility for extraterrestrials criminals. The facility itself is officially nonexistent, like all its inhabitants. Its existence it's known only to S.H.I.E.L.D. and very few members of the govern…"

"Woahwoahwoah! Wait a minute, what?!" Naruto had interrupted the Vision in the middle of the sentence when he had put together a few pieces of what the cyborg had said. "Officially… The S.H.I.E.L.D.? What do you mean the S.H.I.E.L.D. knows about it?"

"The structure is actually financed by S.H.I.E.L.D.. Any extraterrestrial criminals apprehended get imprisoned in the Cube for life." Naruto took a few seconds before it all sank in. Financed? They paid to keep that place open?

"But… That's…" He thought about it. The place imprisoned extraterrestrials outlaws but at the same time they used them like guinea pigs, basically. The grappling hook extraction had left him a bit stranged out along with the fact that his opponent had been unusually silent. He put a hand to his face. Patriot observed it and understood.

"Do you understand what I meant when we said that we don't trust the government?" Naruto got broken out of his reverie by the leader of the Young Avengers. They stared at each other before the blonde dropped his head. He was confused, he could tell. "We'll talk about it later. Now, we have other priorities."

"In truth, the Cube may not be completely impenetrable." The Vision said, distracting himself from the image of Victor flirting with Cassie.

"If you have a plan, we need to hear it." They really did. Patriot was the leader. He took decision. But the Vision was the brains of their team.

"My predecessor once took control of the U.S. government's computer systems. All of them." The last part of the sentence made Naruto blink. That was a lot of computers. "I'm sure the Cube's system is based on the same architecture. If I could get to the mainframe, I could control it."

"Translation?" Naruto whispered to Hawkeye, deciding that the colourful cyborg had lost him somewhere along the way. The girl chuckled.

"It basically means that if he can get to a big computer in the middle of the Cube, he can control the whole base." She replied, finding his clueless face pretty funny.

"I have spent months preparing fail-safes from doing just that… It is possible, yes, but I feel like I'll be losing a piece of myself." Chase gave the 'injured' arm of the Vision a look.

"There's a joke here somewhere, but I'm going to let it go." Seriously, it was almost too easy.

"Nico, don't be nervous! We're gonna do get Karolina and Xavin and the others out of there and kick the bad guys' ass!" Molly had gotten worried since she had seen Nico biting on one of her fingers.

"I'm not nervous." She got her finger out of her mouth, showing a tiny bite on its side, from which it was flowing a small drop of blood. "I'm going to get the droid to the mainframe." The process of 'summoning' of the Staff of One happened again. Naruto asked himself if she said that phrase every time on purpose or it was just auto. She grabbed the staff with one hand, looking at the distant structure, an almost scary look on her face. "You got a thesaurus in that computer brain of yours, Vision?"

"O-Of course. Why?" To make the Vision stutter, she had to look really intimidating at the moment.

"I've been having trouble coming up with new words for my spells. I need to expand my vocabulary now." And that was how Nico suddenly took a level in badass.

--

"I would like this operating room taken off the grid for the next few hours, please." The warden was talking while holding a hand on a glowing panel, probably so that the machine could recognize him. "I'm preparing to do some secret work. Authorization code Deltha, Alpha, Kappa."

"IwanthimtogotosleepIwanthimtogotosleep"

Wiccan had been really unlucky. After he, Hulkling, Xavin and Carolina had been brought to the Cube, they had been brought to a room where they had been hang from their arms like sausages. But unlike the other three, he had woken up. And that led him to witness the warden 'experimenting' around with various sharp tools and his boyfriend's belly.

"There, some privacy at last." The man turned his head to the magician, a smug, vicious grin on his face. Ever since he had 'started', the boy had tried to stop him using his powers, chanting non stop. But he had discovered a little weakness: his spells didn't work if he couldn't see himself talking. So he had put two small things on the boy's ears programmed to filter his voice only. But he didn't give up. "Hmmm, do you really just want me to 'go to sleep'? You don't want to punish me? Hurt me?"

"IwanthimtogotosleepIwanthimtogotosleepIwanthimtogotosleep" The man was having a lot of fun. More with toying around with the human that with the alien, for once.

"The idealism of youth… I suppose you think you're above murderous thoughts. So childish." His hand went for a very sharp-looking knife on a table. He then approached the hanging Teddy again. "Here, let me see if we can't get you to change your tune."

"IwanthimtogotosleepIwanthimtogotosleepIwanthimtogotosleep" Wiccan's eyes didn't move nor unfocus from the actions of the man… And it seemed that the knife was somehow electrically powered, judging from how nicely it sliced.

--

Does any of you know what a 'paranoia injection' is? Seriously, how do you inject paranoia? But they scheduled that and more in the cube, it seemed. All meticulous and precise… Till the ground suddenly opened up, revealing some kind of enormous grotesque red shape containing many smaller black shapes inside it. The guards of the Cube were trained enough to recognize a possible threat. They armed themselves.

"'Prodigium Effodio'… What does that mean again?" Asked Nico, thinking about how she had never even heard anything remotely similar to those two words in her whole life.

"Excavating Monster. It's Latin." The vision narrowed his eyes at the enemies in front of them.

"Damn. How much time did you spend in the library?" Nico said, noticing the charging assailants as well.

"I am a library." The cyborg replied, putting emphasis on the verb of the phrase. Naruto suddenly jumped up in the air from behind them.

"And I'm a one man army!" He crossed his fingers in a familiar position… Well, to him only, in that room. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"

"Eh?" The group of superheroes suddenly stopped their own actions for a few minutes when orange suddenly started dropping from the sky and upon the guards. There were at least twenty copies of Naruto now, in the room. And while Chase didn't understand what had exactly happened, he knew that two of the 'newcomers' had just caused a massive explosion, sending various guards flying back.

"…" Speed was observing everything while doing his part in taking care of the resistance. "Did we really kick his ass that easily?"

"Now's no time for small-talk." Hawkeye kicked one guard charging at her right in the chest.

"Show-Off." Nico used her staff the bludgeoning way.

"Battle not with monsters, lest ye become a monster yourself." The Vision carefully phase-shifted away from battle, heading for the 'big computer' in the middle of the room, cables starting to come out of his hand. "Disabling fail-safes 3253A, 3245D and 0988R."

"T-The mainframe is breached!" One of the people who had been occupied with managing the big-ass computer in the first place seemed to have enough competence to notice what was going on with the screens, the Vision and those cables. "Repeat! The mainframe is breached! Activate mobile defense unit 564!"

--

"_Repeat! Activate mobile defense unit 564!"_

"W-What's mobile defense unit 564?" In another part of the Cube, a place that some could call the place's infirmary, a couple of scientists were having their share of trouble with the breach of the mainframe as well, since their computers went haywire. And just what did someone need to activate?

Their attention got suddenly diverted by one experiment they got on hold there, mostly because they needed to understand how to removed that arm phased into his chest. He destroyed his restraints with ease and then said…

"I am."

--

"Hmmm. Amazing." It was impressive how the warden managed to stay calm and collected but at the same time analytic no matter what kind of 'experiment' he performed. And this time the experiment consisted of 'exploring' the insides of a teen. "Even unconscious, the changeling's body seems to anticipate every incision I make… Shifting biomass to protect vital organs."

"_IwanthimtogotosleepIwanthimtogotosleepIwanthimtogotosleep"_ Even if he had long since understood that it was useless, Wiccan hadn't stopped trying to use his spells, chanting while he observed the horrible actions of the man in front of him.

"I wonder if that is a function of his skrull physiology…" The warden had to say that what he liked the most, apart from experimenting, was breaking minds. And it seemed that he had been doing a good work with the magician. He turned to him with a smug smile, seeing the black haired boy crying. "But that's neither here nor there. It just means I can cut and cut and cut for days and he won't die."

"_IwanthimtogotosleepIwanthimtogotosleepIwanthimtogotosleep"_ While chanting, the amount of tears coming out of his eyes had gotten bigger, frustration and anger adding themselves to the sadness.

"And you get to watch. Isn't that grand?" The warden smiled, while Wiccan closed his eyes and seemed to tremble in his restrains, interrupting his chanting after another round of 'Iwanthimtogotosleep'. "Come now… You surely have something to say to me."

"I want you to die." Indeed he had, it seemed. It seemed that anger had overcome sadness and frustration. But the warden just became even more amused by the fact.

"And our youth become killers…" He said, a wicked smile adorning his features. "Perhaps we do have a war on our hands."

"You wish to know of war, old man?" The warden suddenly blanked at the voice coming from behind him. You see, there are bad side effects to being focused on just a few things at a time. One of those is that you fail to notice most of the things happening around you. In this case, he had failed to noticed that Xavin wasn't exactly dead. His eyes flashing yellow should have been a dead giveaway.

"X-Xavin?" The skrull approached Karolina and ripped off her restraints with one hand, grinding his teeth in anger.

"Free the others, Karolina." He then returned his attention to the fat, ugly, evil human who had dared to try to hurt them. "I saw the blood flow as two worlds snuffed each other out. I saw the black hatred of generations extinguish themselves." He brought a hand to his head and put it and his neck back into place while approaching the warden, who was backing away from him. "My father killed a family of screaming majesdanians in front of me when I was five. I cried so, I was left with the corpses for three days." The skrull's eyes kept on flashing yellow. The warden stumbled and fell on his butt.

"I have no innocence. I have no ideals." The warden's eyes got filled with terror when he saw the young alien's shirt beginning to rip off. He was shape shifting. "You wish to see war, old man?" In a few seconds, there was a skrull using the powers of the Thing from the fantastic four, towering him with nothing but silent fury in his eyes. "I WILL SHOW YOU THE FACE OF WAR!"

--

"Damn, do they ever stop coming?! It's getting annoying!" Naruto said. Even after he had multiplied, they still hadn't managed to move from the room from which they had burst into the cube, since it seemed like all the security guards of the place had come into the room. "Now I understand how people battling armies of minions in D&D feel like…"

"Guys?"

"Why don't you focus more on battling them than thinking about RPGs?" Chase replied to Naruto's comments. The ninja rolled his eyes. The guy seemed to have some issues about jokes.

"Guys?"

"What, Molly?!" Chase shouted. Naruto was about to tell the 'dinosaur tamer' to go somewhere warm and cozy and die for the tone he had used with the girl, but then he followed Molly's finger… And his eyes widened.

"It's that guy again!" Indeed, it was Noh-Varr. Molly had good memory, it seemed. But it was difficult to not notice someone running horizontally on a wall with an arm coming out of his chest. But nonetheless, he was still deadly.

His first action was to target Old Lace. He jumped on her and grabbed his jaw and maw, and started pushing, trying to open them till they got vertical while slamming her into the ground on her back. Now, the emphatic link between Chase and the raptor works both ways. So…

"Maaaw! Waaaaaaaaa!" Chase started shouting, feeling the creature's pain as if it was his own. Molly immediately acted.

"Hey! You're hurting her!" She ran to Noh Varr and the dinosaur while Chase kept on screaming in anguished pain. She started pushing one side of Old Lace's jar in the opposite direction of Noh-Varr. "Quit it, you jerk!"

"Damn it!" Naruto was observing everything. He smashed two guards' heads together and knocked them unconscious just to see the Kree throw high in the air both Old Lace and Molly. And his eyes widened. He knew that Molly had superstrenght, but he didn't know about her durability. If she fell from that height… "Molly!"

He suddenly multiplied again, making his clones open a path for him. He focused his chakra to his legs and jumped high in the air, catching Molly just in time. But it screwed his landing timing. The landing wasn't perfect, but he managed to not get much damage by rolling while protecting the younger girl's head. He immediately recoved, concerned about the state of the girl he was holding in his arms. "Molly! Are you alright?!"

"… Chase… Is he…" Naruto turned his attention to the boy with the red baseball cap. It seemed that Old Lace had fallen unconscious, and as such the pain that was making him unable to even think had gone away. He shook his head.

"He's alright. Don't worry…" Molly smiled a little, but Naruto could see that the blow had affected her more than she let it look. It would take a while for her to recover. He looked around. The guards hadn't stopped coming, but even if their numbers had gotten fewer, taking care of both them and Noh-Varr at the same time was difficult, if not impossible. It was just like before. He was taking all of them out so easily… "…"

"M-Molly…" Naruto suddenly stood and gently handed the girl to the mechanic.

"Tend to her. I will take care of the white haired bastard." Naruto suddenly turned to Noh-Varr, and the two's gazes met, while Naruto turned one, two, three… Four bracelets. "The gloves come off."

--

"Skrull physiology… Organ shifting… Of course…" The Warden kept on backing away from Xavin while his mind quickly found an explanation to how the skrull had managed to survive Noh-Varr's attack. He finally managed to reach the intercom near the door. "I need the o-operating room put b-back on the grid! Do you hear me?"

"It's too late for that…" Bad thing that the 'Thing-ed' up skrull was already upon him and proceeded to lift him by the throat with one hand, before slamming him into a wall while pulling back his other arm, his hand closed into a fist. "It's too late for you."

"No…" Xavin couldn't finish his intended act of violence and murder because his arm was suddenly restrained by the other shapeshifter in the room. Teddy alias Hulkling, pulling on his wrist to stop him from killing the warden.

"Unhand me!" Xavin turned to the half-skrull with rage on his face. "He must pay for what he's done!"

"I can't let you do that." Teddy replied, even if the pain that still made him winch was a hard counterargument.

"You, the prophesied savior of the skrull empire, shys away form a simple act of vengeance?!" Xavin turned his angry face towards Hulkling at full power.

"The Young Avengers don't kill…"

"Your own team-mate wanted this insect dead just minutes ago!" That was a better argument, and had the effect of making Wiccan regain some strength while Karolina helped him back on his feet.

"I thought he was going to kill Teddy… That wasn't me talking." Billy seemed pretty shaken just at the thought that he had wished for someone's death. "God, I hope that wasn't me…" The last part of his words were barely more than a whisper.

"Xavin… Please." Karolina had joined Teddy's side, with a whispered begging for her beloved to nod to what he had in mind.

"I can't let you do it. If you want him, you'll have to kill me too. I mean it." Teddy said again, releasing Xavin's arm as he felt his muscles relax and the strength in his grip falter. Xavin turned around, with his eyes closed and a sad expression.

"Then the prophecy is a lie. You are not the great uniter of the skrull empire." He felt maybe… Betrayed. In his expectations. "You are not a savior." He then let go of the warden, where let go meant throwing him against a wall. "But I acquiesce…"

"I knew you wouldn't do it!" Desisting from his course of action earned him a hug from Karolina and earned Teddy and Billy some relax…

"_Hello? Teddy? Billy? There is not much time."_ Before the Vision's voice suddenly resounded into the room.

"Vision?" Billy said, while the door of the room opened before their eyes.

"_I've taken control of the mainframe. We're getting you out of here but we don't have much time."_ The four teens bolted out of the room and started to travel through the cube's halls following the cyborg's voice.

--

"…" It had all started a few minutes before, but while Speed fought the guards along with the others, he just couldn't help but convince himself more and more that they had beaten Naruto so easily just because of dumb luck.

Ever since he had released that blast of… He didn't know what it was. He just knew it made air move around them and felt heavy against his body. But ever since then, all hell broke loose. He could swear the blonde's body had suddenly gotten bigger, but not only that. He had gotten stronger, and faster, so much that the Noh-Varr guy who had managed to knock out all of them before was having trouble dodging his blows.

"Ahhhhh!" Naruto swung a right once more. Noh-Varr duck and ran out of the way. Just in time, since the punch shattered a piece of wall just in the place where his chest had been a moment before. Naruto was quick to follow him, focusing his chakra from his arms back to his feet and legs. He caught up with Noh-Varr and slammed him into the ground.

The alien reacted immediately, and showing a flexibility not for humans, slipped out of his grasp and kicked him in the side of his head. Naruto winced while the alien took his distance. He rubbed the sore spot while getting back up on his feet. _I still can't control the chakra so that it gives me both speed and power… It's difficult to harness._

"…" In the meanwhile, Noh-Varr was observing his opponent and gathering enough info from him to think of a good counterattack. It seemed that his overall endurance and physical prowess had raised, and he seemed to raise speed and power alternatively from time to time to a dangerous level. If he took even one of those blows he would be done for.

"Better get ready! You're going to get the beating of your life!" But… It seemed that the blonde was forgetting something. A few hours before he had taken out a whole group of people with members who could be far stronger than himself. He rushed towards Naruto, who got surprised by the sudden behaviour. The fact was that Naruto didn't have the same battle experience of Noh-Varr, be it implanted, learned or whatever else. "Gack!"

First, while Naruto could be faster and stronger that Noh-Varr, he still didn't know how to be so at the same time. Second, Noh-Varr could understand that because of that fact, Naruto wasn't used to the sudden power up and as such he hadn't much control over his body or his reflexes. Third, no matter how stronger or faster a human body becomes, it still possesses the same weaknesses.

For example, hitting the windpipe is a fine way to stun an enemy momentarily. Second, hitting someone's jaw stunned them for even more time. Naruto experienced this first hand, since the hit from Noh-Varr on his jaw was strong enough to shake his brain inside his skull like fruit in a blender.

"…" He stumbled forward, while Noh-Varr circled him and noticed that his physique was becoming slight… Impressive again. It seemed that to maintain his superpowered situation he had to somewhat keep a certain degree of focus. That means that he had a chance. He grabbed one of his arms and bent it backwards. "AAAAAAAAAAARGH!"

Naruto's anguished scream told him that he had hurt him, and a lot. The pain seemed to break the blonde out of stun as he swung wildly at Noh-Varr, but he missed.

"Ngh…" _I really wish my healing factor was faster or that it could inhibit pain as well…_ He had learned to wish for that much while sparring with Laura. He turned his furious gaze upon Noh-Varr only to receive a kick at high speed under the jaw, flying back because of the strength of the impact. He hurt his back, a lot. He slowly opened his eyes, focusing on the Kree. "…" _And here I thought that just going fourth tail would solve all my problems… I just got more chakra. Nothing more. This bastard…_

Naruto slowly got back on his feet, his eyes never leaving Noh-Varr's form, while holding his healing arm, focusing more chakra into it. _This bastard is strong. It's not just a matter of how powerful his body is… He uses his brain. My power up didn't even phase him. He's using his brain…_ Naruto smirked. He guessed that from time to time he really reverted to a brainless brawler. "Alright. I calmed down." He released his arm, now fully healed. Noh-Varr seemed to notice this… Naruto brought a hand to his armband and turned 'off' the fourth bracelet. His opponent didn't react at all, waiting for his next move. _Having such an unstable and uncontrollable, even if marvellous strength, is useless against this one. Three tail is all I can manage._

Naruto rushed at Noh-Varr yet again while picking something out of his right pocket. The two met fists, but then Naruto somersaulted and the kree felt one of his hands attach something to his shoulder. "Let's see how you like plastic explosive!" The kree turned his attention to the thing attached to his shoulder to remove it… Just to find out that it was an iPod attached to his shoulder with some tape. And suddenly, a grinning Naruto hit him in what it was supposed to be his liver's place with a full three-tails charged punch. "Got ya!" _I wonder if Deadpool knows that he could exploit his crazyness… Or maybe he unconsciously already does so?_

"…" Noh-Varr flew away and landed shakily on his legs. That blow to his body had done some good damage. The pain was enormous, but like he had said to Vision 'Pain is all I know'. So, he immediately rushed at Naruto again. But even if mentally he was still alright Naruto could see that his blow had affected the kree physically.

_An opening… There!_ The ninja waited for Noh-Varr to come at him and then targeted the alien's legs. The body blow had slowed him down enough for him to land another solid hit to the other side of the Kree's body, even if in doing so he got hit in the chest again. "Gack!" The alien stumbled back, barely holding himself on his feet, while Naruto suddenly felt air leaving his lungs. A solid hit to the solar plexus. _Damn… He really is strong…_

"…" The Kree observed his lower body like it was the first time he saw his legs trembling. He thought about a new strategy. From the information he had gathered, the blonde shinobi was very protective of his allies. The alien suddenly turned his attention to the two helpless ones in the room. Molly and Chase. Naruto saw this and blanked while Noh-Varr sprinted.

"No!" Naruto ran after him and managed to surpass him and place himself just in front of the two. And he understood that Noh-Varr had let him, since he managed to land a vicious blow to his stomach, lifting him from the ground. "Ngh!"

"No!" Before he fell to the ground, Noh-Varr kicked him away, before returning on his feet, stumbling a little while Naruto flew a good ten meters away and into a wall. Chase watched the scene in horror while Noh-Varr focused his attention on him and Molly. He gritted his teeth at him. "You bastard… Stay away from her! She's just a baby!"

"Better to die than to grow old in the cube." Noh-Varr replied while basically ripping off the ground one of the components of the structure, holding it above his head, ready to throw it to them. Naruto was slowly getting back on his feet. Too slow… But he blinked when he noticed a green glowing hand emerging from the ground right behind Chase, and suddenly a strange liquid substance began to envelope the teen's body.

"Wha--?" In a few seconds, Chase had been enveloped by the liquid form of the vision, protecting him like an armour… And strengthening him, it seemed, since he basically punched away the enormous cybernetic cylinder the kree had thrown at him.

"I'm afraid we see more options than you do." The Vision talked while enveloping Chase and mimicking his facial features, while the 'prisoners' came from behind him ready to battle.

"And he's not the only one." Teddy declared, rage in his eyes while Chase couldn't help but gaze at the Vision/armor and comment with a 'Sweet!'. Noh-Varr observed them with something between annoyance and anger… Before he suddenly felt two arms encircle his waist.

"Who said watching wrestling is useless?" Noh-Varr didn't have much time to react, since he didn't know what the boy was doing. For the ones who watch wrestling, Naruto german suplexed the Kree, slamming him into the ground behind him at full force. Full three tails force. Head first. Along with the pain there was the concussion. He could feel it. He was falling unconscious.

"Please… Let this be… The end…" Naruto heard Noh-Varr whisper. He raised an eyebrow at that, before letting the slumped body of the alien to the ground… And before noticing that he had hit the ground as well with his head, bringing both of his hands to the sore spot.

"Owowowowow! That freaking hurts!" Speed and the others had just finished taking care of the guards, it seemed. Speed was about to comment that the finisher had been very cool, before the fact that the blonde had injured himself in the process made him laugh. Naruto frowned. "What?! It was the first time I tried it! Damn, this guy is strong…"

"What are you doing?!" Patriot said with a high tone of voice. He saw the Chase/Vision kneel in front of Noh-Varr, observing his body and the arm of the Vision phased into him.

"Seems like my circuitry has merged with the nanites in Noh-Varr's blood… Already they work to revive him." The cyborg replied, earning a blink from Naruto and then a groan.

"Are you serious?! This guys can heal too?!" He couldn't believe that he had basically did all that for nothing at all.

"'Noh-Varr'…" Patriot seemed more amused by the fact that the Vision knew his full name. But he paid it not much mind. "Vision, we got what we came for. Get your arm and let's go!"

"Negative. We could not outrun him." Not everyone of them, Naruto thought. And he knew that the cyborg was right. They had barely beaten him. The damage to his back and his side still had to heal.

"We have to try…" Commented Patriot, but the sentence slowly died, realizing the Vision was formulating a plan.

"His internal O.S. has been mangled by foreign code… As if by a child with a hammer." The cyborg commented while leaning a hand over his arm."He must be in constant pain… Unable to discern who he even is."

That earned Naruto's attention. In constant pain? All the time that he was fighting him… So, he had been brainwashed as well? That was why he had been attacking them? That was why he had been silent almost all the time while they fought? Then, he remembered what the kree had told to Chase and Molly. _Better to die than to grow old in the cube… So, basically…_ The Kree was basically thinking of doing them a favour, by killing them.

"What are you suggesting we do?" Patriot asked, looking around to see if more guards were incoming.

"I suggest we fix him."

"…" Naruto listened to the Vision's words… And then approached one of the consoles in the room. He found a piece of paper and a pen. He began to write something on the thing.

--

"Alright… I wanna cast a spell…" Noriko groaned.

"Julian, for the 'I'velostthecountof howmanytimesI'vetoldyou'-time, FLARE ISN'T IN THE 4TH EDITION!" Julian pouted at Noriko's retort.

"Geez… No Unforgotten Realms quote, then?" He groaned. He hadn't ever played D&D because he thought it was a geek thing, but he had always loved that series.

"Alright. I think we can interrupt here, for today."

"Awww! Dragonborn sad!"

--

"Unacceptable! Why was I not notified sooner?" After the Warden had recovered enough he had contacted his subordinates again… Just to discover that not only his newest specimens had not been stopped, but they had been joined by their companions from the outside.

"You ordered a surveillance blackout for…"

"Shut up! It doesn't matter." The good man was immediately excused when he was starting to remind the doctor that he himself had asked his men to not survey or contact him for a while. As in, he was about to remind him of his own errors. "Noh-Varr will not let them escape." The Warden was absolutely sure of that. His cockroach was so efficient that... "What?" But what they found was an empty room, lots of guard unconscious, and Noh-Varr sitting crosslegged in front of an enormous hole in the floor. "What is wrong with you?!" The warden said, leaning forward to grab the kree by his hair…

"That will be enough of that." The warden's face morphed into a silent scream as a hand suddenly started crushing his right wrist. A hand belonging to the alien in front of him. Free of his control, obeying to no one but himself once again. "There's nothing wrong with me. In fact I'm feeling much, much better."

--

"She still isn't waking up?" Naruto asked Chase, worried as hell about Molly. Suddenly, he felt Karolina's hand on his left shoulder.

"Don't worry. It's not because of injuries, but her powers. She falls asleep almost immediately after she uses her power a lot. She'll be alright." Naruto sighed in relief, earning a chuckle from the blonde haired alien. "Hey… Thank you for your help." Naruto turned to her and grinned.

"What was I supposed to do? Let some sick bastard experiment on you and your boyfri… Ehm, girlf…" Naruto thought about it for a few seconds and then grabbed his head, screaming in exasperation. "ARGH! IT'S SO CONFUSING!"

"Hey, Vision. I just wanted to thank you for… Whoa. Weird." Chase had approached the Vision to talk to him, but he had suddenly stopped walking when Cassie entered his line of vision.

"What is it?" Asked the cyborg, even if could guess more or less what it was that had surprised the teen.

"All of a sudden Cassie's like the prettiest, most perfect girl in the world. But I didn't think that before…" The Vision turned around with somewhat of a sad face.

"The armour which I inhabit is controlled by thought. Though we did not fully merge, there will be psychic feedback…" The cyborg said, and Chase's eyes widened a little while he went through the new thoughts in his head.

"Those are your thoughts?!" He said, shocked by what he was finding in there. "Man, I… You're one lonely dude."

"It is strangely alienating to find a brother in Victor and be unable to communicate with him." The Vision moved his eyes to the sky, observing it with a longing sight. "Perhaps it is my lot to be alone."

"Hey, don't be so down, man." Chase said. It was incredible how you could basically read the loneliness on the Vision's face. "I mean if nothing else you have by far the coolest costume of anyone on your team…" That small comment brought a smile to the cyborg's face. Perhaps not.

"Thank you… Chase Stein."

"Hey, Xavin… You saved us all back there." Teddy was approaching the full-blooded skrull. Even if he didn't seem too happy with his behaviour, he owed him a thanks for waking up at the right time in the right place. "I'm sorry that things had to get…"

"She's beautiful, isn't she?" Xavin suddenly interrupted him. Hulkling just replied with a 'What's that?'. Xavin smiled, pointing at Karolina who was enjoying Naruto's confusion at her relationship with Xavin. "Karolina. She is so tender and soft." He commented, then proceeded to explain. "You know I have lost my homeworld. She is all that I have left. She is all that makes my life good." He then shook his head, still smiling.

"She would not have understood… Had I done what I wanted to our captor. I would have lost her." Continued the skrull. He then turned to Teddy with a widened smile. "Perhaps you did save me today, Dorrek VIII. Perhaps you are a savior." That earned a smile out of Teddy and by 'contagion' by Billy too. Good thing to have a 'savior' as a boyfriend. They then kept on observing Karolina and Naruto.

"Hmmm… And here I thought that 'official superheroes' matured more quickly." Naruto frowned.

"Hey! I'm just stranged out by the use of the shapeshifting! I can do it too, you know!" Naruto clapped both of his hands together. "Oiroke no jutsu!" He got enveloped in a puff of smoke, surprising Karolina and the others a little… When the smoke dissipated, Speed, Chase, Karolina and Victor got vicious nosebleeds. Karolina promptly passed out because of the loss of blood, with a perverted smile on her face. "Ehm… Whoops?"

"…" Xavin's right hand suddenly got enveloped in flames. Teddy sweatdropped at that.

"Ehm, Xavin. I'm sure you don't have competition…"

--

"Warden? This is Maria Hill. The Cube has disappeared from the grid. We need a status report a.s.a.p.." Still no response. She couldn't get any feedback, nor video, nor audio feedback. But it wasn't like the Cube wasn't receiving the message. It was just being ignored and isolated. "Your behavior has been unacceptably erratic, Warden. I hope everything has stabil—" The enormous screen stopped showing Maria Hill's face, the communication cut off by the simple pressure of a button on a remote.

"Hnnn…" The warden of the Cube had been somewhat demoted, it seemed. It had been reduced to a groaning footstool.

"An entire world to change and I've been stuck inside here for how long?" Noh-Varr was just voicing his thoughts out loud. He wasn't talking to anyone in particular. It helped the fact that the only conscious person in the room was his footstool. "Never mind." He smiled, bringing a finger to his chin. He then shifted his eyes to the piece of paper he had found inside his costume when he woke up. It was as simple sentence wrote by he did not know who… But he had some kind of idea. _Give them hell. And then come see me for a rematch. _"… Strange people… Humans. Oh, well…" He then turned his gaze to another screen, before declaring… "Welcome to the capital city of the new Kree empire."

--

"…" After calming Xavin and waking Karolina they had left him alone, more or less. Naruto had then started thinking about the events that had transpired in the previous hours. First thing, he had understood that all the power in the world couldn't do him much good if he couldn't control it and if he didn't get better himself. Second… He had discovered that maybe he wasn't exactly with the good guys. The S.H.I.E.L.D., the government… _… I wonder if there really are two opposite sides, in this war… I mean…_

Naruto's eyes shifted to the still chatting figures of the two super-teams with a questioning gaze. Seems like Patriot was still trying to persuade Nico and the others to join their side. _They defy and don't obey the law, but they're good guys. No doubt about that. We want to obey the law because it's the right thing to do, but… Do I really want to obey the law made by people who finance things like… That place?_

"Hey. So, what are you gonna do?" Naruto raised his head, and found himself looking at the face of Speed. "We're gonna go back to New York. Want a lift? Or… You still wanna try to take us in?"

"…" Naruto thought about it. He should but… His mission regarded just the Runaways, after all. And after what he had learned in those past few hours, he didn't feel so sure anymore about the sides of the war. He needed to verify if the government was fooling everyone, including Tony, or if… He didn't want to think about it. He shook his head. "No. But…" He suddenly narrowed his eyes. "I still owe you a beating for stepping on me." Cassie at that laughed a bit nervously.

"Dude, so not cool!" Chase said after coming out of the Frog, after depositing Molly inside it. "You want to beat a girl up?"

"… I wasn't referring to her… Only." Naruto got up from his sitting position and stretched. "I owe a beating to all of you."

"… Eh?" Nico raised an eyebrow at that. Did he meant… Naruto simply closed his hands into fists and mocked a bit of boxing.

"So, let's settle this. I've got to blow off some steam. Me against all of you." At that point everyone, including the Vision was looking at him like he had gone crazy. The bad kind of crazy. Naruto then smirked evilly. "Ah, and just so you know…"

"…" What did the ninja still want to say?

"I can beat you while without even breaking a sweat and without using a single one of my powers."

_Continue…_

_In the next chapter…_

After a big brawl against the Runaways and the Young Avengers with an uncertain outcome, Naruto goes back to New York city. After reporting, Tony tells him something. They have a plan to maybe end the war… Or to reach the point of no return. But weekend is finally there, and he goes back to the Xavier's institute… Just as things start going to hell. Again. Stay tuned!


	22. Civil War VI

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto nor Marvel… MEINOS SMASH.

**No Reading**

**Chapter20: Danger**

"… Did you get brain damage from that suplex or something?"

"Not at all. You see, I learned something over these months. But I tend to keep on forgetting it." Naruto clenched his hands into fists over and over. "That there are other ways to win other than bashing people around… And I wanna see just how much of that is true. I thought of a good plan before hand."

"…" Nico groaned and shook her head. And she was almost thinking him to be alright in her book. "Say, why the hell should we go along with your plan?"

"…" Naruto grinned evilly. He then turned to the Vision. "If you don't, I will give Molly all the three seasons of Magical Girl Nanoha on DVD."

"…" The Vision was the only one who could understand what Naruto meant… And he paled. His face right out paled. "It's… Best if we agree with him." Everyone turned to the Vision thinking he had been hit in the head too. "Trust me. You DON'T want Molly to watch that series, Nico."

"… Alright, alright. Get in formation or whatever…" Naruto grinned while all the people started to form some kind of circle around him. He observed and saw that they were taking some kind of pre-made formations. Nico sighed. He was grinning? "So… Any last words?"

"Actually, yes." Naruto suddenly made a single handsign and disappeared… Just to reappear behind Nico. She yelped when he grabbed her wrists and restrained her from moving while snatching out of her grip the Staff of One. "You're the worst magical girl alive."

"I'm tired of this fool!" Xavin was the first to charge, changing into his thing-like form. Seemed that the anger from how Naruto had previously 'tried to seduce his beloved' still hadn't faded completely. The blonde didn't pay him much mind, it seemed.

"Seriously, you could do wonders with this thing if you… 'Researched' a little." Nico was trying to get out of his vicegrip, but to no avail. He just kept her against his chest while holding her staff in front of them with his right arm. "Like, try to play some videogames, for example." He pointed the staff at Xavin and said. "Force Push 1 Full Charge!"

"Eh…" Xavin suddenly found himself stopping in his rush. He didn't know why or how… But in a fraction of second he found himself flying back through the air, before smashing into the forest surrounding them, under the surprised stares of everyone in the field, including Nico.

"That was from Star Wars: The Force Unleashed." The next one to react was Speed, who attacked him along with Teddy, Patriot and Old Lace, and he saw that Wiccan was beginning to chant a spell. He pointed the staff at speed. "Or even movies! Just the name of some soundtracks… Chariots of Fire!"

"What doeeeeeeeeeeeeesssssssssss thaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat meeeee…" Tommy realized that he had suddenly started moving more and more slowly… When he realized that he had become the incarnation of slow-mo Naruto had already pointed the staff to the sky? He suddenly jumped high in the air to dodge Patriot's and Old Lace's attacks. Earning a frightened scream from Nico.

"Also, since you only can use a spell once, try to differentiate them by adding the names of your targets. That way you don't even have to point, right?" While still in the air, he shifted his gaze to Hulkling who had suddenly grown wings. "Hulkling and Wiccan! You're the one that I want!"

"Eh? What…" Suddenly, Teddy found that he couldn't move himself anymore. And to Billy it happened the same. They also found that they couldn't talk anymore. So, that took care of Wiccan's spells. What they really didn't expect was for their body to start moving on their own, with Teddy coming back to the ground.

"…" Music suddenly started playing in the air. And Chase cringed. "You have to be shitting me…"

"_I got chiiiiiiiiiiiiiills… They're multiplying…"_ He just couldn't believe that someone would ever think of that. Teddy and Billy were doing that exact dance from that exact musical with music coming out of nowhere. And while their bodies and voice followed the 'script', their faces showed just horror.

"See?" Nico's face was priceless, but he remembered that he was landing and that there were Patriot and Old Lace waiting for him on the ground. "I mean, get a culture on fictional magic. Videogames, table RPGs… D&D 3.5 Feather Fall!" He said, pointing the staff at himself and Nico. They suddenly started falling towards the ground a lot more slowly. He pointed the staff at Patriot and Old Lace. "But even just music! The only limit of this power is your imagination, basically! Hungarian Dance 7!"

"Noooo!" Patriot cried basically in desperation as he and Old Lace suddenly found joined hand by claw, and started dancing to yet another song that had started playing in the background. Naruto allowed himself to laugh his ass off… Before lowering his head to dodge an arrow while finally landing on the ground. He turned around and he saw three pretty pissed off girls.

"Whoops. Almost forgot about them." He still held Nico close, who by now had fallen silent… And she was actually taking notes. Naruto pointed the staff at Hawkeye, Cassie and Karolina while jumping back, since Cassie had gotten bigger and was charging him while the other two were shooting at him from far away. "Games, movies, music… Anything can be your inspiration. Even Anime that are not about combat. Like, for example, we have three girls in front of us, right?" He pointed the staff forward while dodging another arrow and Cassie's right foot. "Hare Hare Yukai dance!"

"…" Chase palmed his face. He just couldn't believe this. They had just got their asses handed to them in such a ridiculous way… He turned to Vision and Victor. The latter was laughing his ass off while the Vision just smiled. "Not going to do anything?"

"Too occupied with laughing. Oh, my stomach…" The Vision nodded at Victor's comment.

"Indeed. I must say that I find this pretty… Entertaining."

"Naruto, you're the coolest!" Chase suddenly had to plug his ears because of the high pitched voice threatening to break his eardrums along with the sound of clapping. Molly had woken up just in time, it seemed.

In the meanwhile, Naruto was observing his handiwork. Xavin was just now getting out of unconsciousness and the others were still… Occupied. He grinned and decided to let of Nico. And she silently thanked him for that, since she was starting to feel just a little too comfortable against his chest.

He grinned.

"Eh, I got my revenge." He then turned to face Nico. "So, what do we have learned today?"

"…" Nico blushed a little, embarrassed by how he had showed her that she really was the worst 'magical girl' in the world. She grumbled. "That I should geek out more?"

"Eres correcto. Now, let's just enjoy the dances till it's over." Naruto grinned and decide to review the two lovebirds' interpretation of Grease a bit… And sweatdropped when he saw that they had begun enjoying it maybe a bit too much. Teddy had just turned into John Travolta. Speed was crying comical tears.

"Whyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy meeeeeeeeeeeeeeee…"

--

"Man, that was fun! We should totally do that again!"

"Never again! These two are still singing!" Tommy was seriously thinking about making the two boyfriends' heads explode, if he heard another Grease song come out of their lips. Everyone but the ones who hadn't been targets or became annoyed by the outcome of Naruto's 'lesson' had similar reactions to the fact that Naruto was finally going away with the Young Avengers.

"So… Not bringing us in?" Nico asked, still a bit flushed. Naruto shook his head.

"Nope. And I don't think anyone is going to come after you anytime soon. The Vision suggested a nice speech to ensure that." He winked at the cyborg and the Vision smiled at him. "So… I guess this is goodbye."

"…" Nico sighed and then finally gave him a piece of paper. Naruto blinked and took it. It was a number? "If you ever pass by here, give us a call."

"…" He grinned. "Of course."

"Hey. Shall we go?" Patriot said, urging Naruto to hurry. They still needed a few hours to get back to New York, even with a Quinjet. The blonde nodded and then waved at the Runaways with his hands while the thing started to take off.

"See you! It's been fun!" In a few seconds, he climbed inside the Quinjet again and the door closed. In a few more, the thing disappeared at the horizon. Many of the Runaways let out a sigh, for various reasons.

"Come on, let's just get back…" She suddenly felt an inquisitive gaze on the back of her head. She turned around… Molly. And she looked a bit angry. She raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"I call first dibs." Chase palmed his face. Not again. Seemed like Molly had found a new Wolverine.

--

"Hey, thanks for the lift."

"Sorry for making you do the last part on feet, but… We're not exactly welcome around Stark Tower." Indeed they weren't. That was why they were dropping Naruto on the roof of a building a few blocks away. Naruto just grinned at Patriot's comment and dropped off from the hovering Quinjet. "… Hey, Militia."

"Yes?" Naruto turned around to face the black skinned superhero, who was looking at him with his arms crossed.

"I saw that what we went through in the last hours made you… Think." Naruto just kept on staring at him and nodded slowly. "… So?"

"… I need to verify something. Seems like the pro and anti registration sides aren't the only ones here… If you get my drift." Patriot nodded. "But that doesn't mean that I can just switch sides like that. I mean, both have good and bad parts. And since it's more complicated than what it looks like…" Naruto grinned at Patriot and winked. "It's better to have good guys on both sides, right?"

"…" Patriot smiled. "What do you want to do? Create a third side?"

"Why not? The side of awesome. We've got Young Avengers, ninjas, and Deadpool." At the mention of the last name, Patriot visibly paled. Naruto laughed. It seemed that the man was pretty in-famous. "Goodnight! And try to keep in touch… Well, maybe not."

"…" Patriot sighed and smiled. "Later, Militia." Patriot walked back into the Quinjet and the door closed. Naruto followed with his gaze the quinjet till it disappeared high in the air. He sighed.

"Alright. Time to go and report in to my boss…"

--

"I must say, I was shocked when I saw you come back on feet…"

"Wait, you mean that when you couldn't detect me by costume anymore you didn't get worried? Ouch!" Naruto had returned to the Stark tower, and it seemed like some splinters had stuck themselves into his back when Noh-Varr had thrown him into the wall, along with the jacket. He wished pulling them out didn't hurt so much. "Sorry I couldn't get them, but I can assure you they will not join the other side either. They want to stay out of this."

"That's good to know. Then I suppose that's a half victory." Tony commented. The less people they had to fight with, the better. But Naruto raised an eyebrow at that.

"Boss… What about the guy with the white hair?" Tony had no way of knowing what had transpired after the Vision broke his suit, but he sure as hell knew what the Vision had said about him. "The Vision said that he was working with other people. Humans, I think. Do you by any chance know who could they be? I didn't exactly have any chances to ask him questions."

"We'll look into it. After all, I had to predict that there were people who would try to take advantage of this. Experiments on superhumans are old story, after all." Tony replied. Naruto stared at him for a few seconds and then nodded, while Tony's assistant finished removing the splinters from his back. He winced and thanked the man and then put on the T-Shirt they had brought him.

_Either he really doesn't know or he's trying to cover it… I want to believe that while he did know about the place he didn't know about Noh-Varr… But does that make him any__ more excusable?_ Naruto got back on his feet and stretched, exhibiting a grin. "Oh, well! For my first week of work, it sure was something!"

"I guess… And by the way, Naruto…" The blonde turned to Tony fully. It seems like he was about to say something. "We're planning something big."

"Something big?" Naruto blinked at that. It wasn't like Tony to talk in a so… Unspecific way.

"Yes. A way to bring this war to an end, one way or the other." Naruto stared at Tony a bit harshly. As in, he didn't like that 'one way or the other'. Noticing that, Iron-Man smiled. "I mean by talking or by kicking their ass, Naruto. We're not going to nuke them."

"Ah. Then it's okay. And you tell me this why?" Naruto crossed his arms over his chest.

"Because everyone of the Registration side is going to be into this, if it comes to having to fight." Naruto nodded. It really sounded like something big, now. So, an enormous battle royal. "We're working on the specifics, right now. I just want you to be ready."

"Alright? Anything else?" Tony nodded and pointed behind him with a stretched arm. Naruto turned around. There was someone else in the room, it seemed. It was an adult woman, with a long black dress and dark brown hair. She was somewhat petite, but very, very pretty. "Oh, ehm… Hello."

"Naruto, may I introduce to you Janet Van Dyne alias the Wasp, one of the founding members of the Avengers." Tony walked beside him and put a hand on his left shoulder, startling him a little, being still entranced by his newest acquaintance, who in return extended her left arm and hand for him to shake.

"It's a pleasure." Naruto slowly raised his own hand and how he had learned to do gently shook it. Hoping it wasn't sweaty, since she made the night dress look damn good. "I can finally meet you. I was quite looking to it, I must say, Militia."

"Ehm… Really?" He couldn't help but blush at that. Tony chuckled silently at that.

"Janet currently hosts a pro-registration Talk Show. She's one of the superheroes who has worked the most on her public image over the years." Naruto thought about what a talk show was before finally remembering it. And he hoped there weren't people hitting each other in her one too.

"Exactly. And I must say, when I've heard about you I knew I wanted to have you as a guest. So, I thought we could talk about it while having dinner." Naruto blushed even more.

"D-D-Dinner?" Janet just nodded, while Tony had to turn around. His lips were twitching uncontrollably.

"There's a nice restaurant in another one of the towers of this complex. The sight is a killer. I was going to have dinner with Tony, but since the subject was going to be yourself, what do you say?" Finished the Avenger. Naruto blinked and slowly turned to Tony, who had restrained his chuckling long enough to face him with a straight face.

"Just go and get ready. You have half an hour." Naruto simply nodded did an exaggerated bow and began to walk away towards his room, leaving two amused avengers behind him. "I thought he was going to have an earth attack…"

"You said that he has a certain experience with girls his age, but I guess that an adult woman's charm is a little too much for him." Janet brought a finger to her right cheek and smiled. Tony knew that smile.

"Please, try to do not give him an heart attack. He will gladly answer all your questions without the need for… Persuasion." Tony said. And in his mind he had picked the Janet card at the right time of the right day. The evening would take Naruto's mind off the events of that day while he would be able to give Maria Hill a piece of his mind for not discussing employing other forces without telling him first. Especially a captive from the Cube.

--

"What's got you so entranced?"

"Ehm… You were right. The sight is… A killer." Naruto hoped that he had been gazing out of the window long enough to make the woman think that he was referring to New York at night. That was yet another killer sight, but she was much more than that. He was starting to ask himself, did all super-heroines share the superpower of being damn hot? And how come he had started paying attention to older women? This had never happened to him around… Well, now that he thought of it, the only older hot women that he knew back then were Shizune and Tsunade. And Kurenai. And that crazy examiner from the second exam. "So… You wanted to talk to me, you said."

"Yes. While we wait for our food. Good cuisine takes time." She said, with a smile, observing as he tried to slowly turn and raise his head to face her again, and failing miserably. It looked like wearing that elegant was a great feat in itself. Black jacket and trousers and a white shirt. No tie. And a golden necklace. "Well, as I've said, I'd like to have you in my talk show. But before that, I like to talk with my guest a bit. About them, about what to talk…"

"I-I understand…" _Her eyes, focus on her eyes… OH, GOD! WHY DID I LOOK?!_ He sincerely thought he couldn't stop looking, now. He needed to keep his mind occupied. Talking. He needed to keep talking. "So, what… Would you like to know?"

"Well, for once, you said that in your world there was something similar to the registration act. I'd like to hear more about it." Naruto was glad that she didn't ask questions about himself. And he was glad he had undergone the cuckoos' treatment, since he was now able to remember everything he had heard during his lessons. Even things he had heard while sleeping.

"Of course. Well, in my world, everyone can become a ninja, given proper training. That is why it's due to choose those who can become one properly, train them properly and control them properly. We can say that each nation with ninjas has its own 'registration act'." Naruto said, recalling to mind some lessons about politics he had had in the academy. Janet listened to it attentively.

"Does the 'training' start very early?" Naruto nodded.

"I think the system varies from place to place, but fundamentally, people start ninja training at a very young age. In my village, the starting age for joining the ninja academy is six years old. They're taught some of the things civilians learn in normal schools, and then they add the fundaments of ninja training." Then Naruto started to recall to mind his own experiences about what happened after graduation. "After a few years of study, or once they deem a student competent enough, the students undergo a final exam, and then they get put into teams of three, and need to pass yet another test to finally get labelled as real ninjas, and start taking assignments under the supervision of an older ninja."

"A few years or once they deem a student competent enough…" Janet seemed to think about the words carefully. "You mean there are… Exceptions?"

"Yes. You see, the usual age of graduating is around 10-12 years old. But there have been cases where…" To Naruto's mind came lessons about exceptional prodigies who graduated early… Two names among the rest. Two 'prodigies'. Itachi Uchiha and Hatake Kakashi. He decided to use Kakashi as an example. "Students have showed such extraordinary prowess and attitude that they graduated very early. My teacher graduated when he was 8 years old."

"That's… Discussible. But I understand." The Wasp nodded and decided that it was time to ask something about Naruto himself, much to what he feared. "What about you? Tell me about your ninja career."

"Ah…" Naruto pouted. Not because he was embarrassed, but mostly because, on the paper, his ninja career wasn't that impressive. "Well… I graduated when I was 12. After that, I had an year of active missions and I've undergone once the exam to get an higher rank. I failed it. And I didn't get a chance to repeat it because shortly after that I was taken in as an apprentice to a particularly powerful ninja, who planned for me a three years training trip. A month after returning to active duty, I underwent another mission, on which happened the incident that… Stranded me here, for lack of a better word."

"So… Basically, you're still ranked low as a ninja?" Naruto blushed and pouted even more. Janet chuckled at his antics.

"Yes… At least in rank, since I didn't get the chance to take the exam again…" But he suddenly grinned. "But in strength… That's another matter. And since coming here, I've gotten even stronger. I can't wait to see the face of my friends back home…" He said… And then downed on him that he still didn't get wind or anyone being able to 'track down' his homeworld. He sighed deeply and ran a hand through his hair. "Well… When I go back home."

"You plan on going back?" Naruto blinked in surprise at Janet's sudden question.

"Well, of course… B-But…" The blonde suddenly started thinking about all the things that had happened in the few months he had appeared in that world. All the people he met… A few in particular, who now held a big place in his heart. Three shone among the others. "… Well… I guess… I mean…"

"That's the bad thing about being stranded in another dimension. You can get affectionate." Janet said, understanding the reasoning going through Naruto's mind. The blonde seemed really troubled.

"Hmmm… I… I mean…" He shook his head. With what he had seen coming from Doctor Strange and Tony Stark… "Oh, come on. I'm sure that if the trip happened once it can happen again. I bet that some kind of dimension-travelling thing does exist."

"Eheheh… Yes, it does. Sorry for teasing you." The super-heroine could swear that he had seen the boy let out a sigh of relief. He hid it very well, but it still was there. She then moved her eyes to the left and noticed that the waiter was coming their way with the food they had ordered. "Seems like our mouths will be occupied for a few minutes. We'll continue later."

"Ah. Alright." Naruto blushed, since his corrupted mind had gotten a not-intended innuendo in the sentence. _Curse you, Deadpool!_

--

"Well, it's been an entertaining night, I must say." It was nice to take a walk around the city, especially when criminal activity was close to zero thanks to the SRA. Not that it would have been trouble.

"Yes… I guess you're right." Naruto couldn't exactly agree that he had enjoyed every single moment, mostly because he had been getting embarrassed a lot. He was a clueless 16 years old boy who just went as far as light foreplay having dinner with one of the most famous and hot avengers ever who seemed to have a knack for teasing him… Screw tact. He was going to ask. "But seriously… You enjoying teasing teens or what?"

"Among other things… And it's nice to see that you've got enough spunk to voice your thoughts." Naruto frowned blushing some more. "Frankly? I'm a superheroine, a famous fashion designer and I work in television. Most of the things that people find spectacular are daily for me. I have to get my kicks from something, no? And teasing males, especially younger ones, are some of the things that never get old to women."

"… I guess so…" He sighed and threw his head back. He had to see that coming… He then grinned. He guessed two could play that game. "Hmm… And here I thought you were scouting the field of the soon to be of age."

"That too." Naruto went as stiff as a statue and became as red as a tomato at the same time. Janet noticed this and made a little turn to stare at him in the face. "I'm a divorced superheroine. Do you think I can simply go to a pub?"

"Aga… The… I don't…" Janet slapped him slightly back to reality.

"You're fun to tease and pretty cute, but you need to mature a lot. Mostly mentally." They had stopped in front of an old apartment building. Janet smiled. "I stop here. Not going to show you the way to my real apartment, sorry."

"… Well… Goodnight, I guess." Janet nodded and leaned forward, kissing Naruto on the cheek, cue to him going aflame.

"I'll contact you to talk about your apparition in my talk show. Goodnight, Militia." That said, Janet walked inside the apartment building. She never came out of it, going to her real one god knew how. Naruto stood there for a few minutes before groaning loudly.

"Good. First, that sicko with six arms with a knack for guro, then the avenger with a knack for making me scarlet and maybe unable to face Layla… And Laura… And Cess… …" Naruto thought about it and palmed his face with both hands. "Ok, seriously. How come for a reason or another, I have serious problems with girls? Does it really have to always be one extreme or the other? Seriously, why?"

"Because you're one lucky son of a bitch." Naruto jumped on his feet and landed in a guarding position while turning around in mid jump, on instinct… Only to raise an eyebrow. The man behind him wasn't looking dangerous, but… He had no idea who he could be.

"Ehm… Who the hell are you?" He asked out of the blue. The man in front of him had a quite formal dress on. And he was quite awesome, he could say. He was tall and pretty muscular, other than having long blonde hair and blue eyes… Wait a minute. "Alright. Since when does Owen Wilson work out and why is he following me in the middle of the night?"

"Ahhh, you padawan. You have a lot to learn… No, seriously. You taught me this thing." Naruto still couldn't understand what was going on till the man made… An hand seal? And got enveloped in smoke, revealing…

"No way! You've already mastered it?!" Naruto gaped in shock at the figure of Deadpool successfully dispelling the transformation technique, revealing his usual red and black self, minus the mask and the gloves. He quickly put them back on, though.

"Oh, it wasn't that difficult, once you figured out the trick."

"…" Naruto thought about it. Kids usually learned the transformation around the middle of the second year of academy, because they first had to learn to use chakra and the whole second year was spent about learning that technique. He himself had taken even more because of his messy chakra control… He blanked. Deadpool had learned it in a few days, so… He grabbed the sides of his head and screamed. "NO WAY! THERE'S NO FUCKING WAY! YOU CAN'T BE A GENIUS WHEN IT COMES TO NINJA TECHNIQUES! YOU JUST CAN'T!"

"Oh, don't be such a pussy about it. I still can't get any girls because I still act like Dat Phan on vinavil on stage." Naruto's brain decided to develop a fail safe about the fact of Deadpool being a genius with ninja techniques so that it could be faced later. "Nice date you got going there. I bet you can't wait to grow pubic hair."

"Just shut up… And I've already… Nevermind." The blonde shook his head and got back on his feet. "You've followed us the whole evening? Seriously?"

"I was the waiter, mate." Naruto rolled his eyes. That was way they brought them chimichanga even if they didn't order any. "So, heard about your little run in. Were the young avengers as nubile as they sound?"

"I'm about to punch you in the face. And they were cool." Naruto started to walk away. Deadpool followed suit after morphing back into a scarless version of himself with a tuxedo.

"So, planning anything for the weekend? I thought about Vegas." The ninja rolled his eyes. He had to see that coming. A bored Deadpool.

"I was thinking about going back to the Xavier's. I kinda miss being a X-Men, you know?"

"Same here." Naruto turned to Deadpool with a face that told 'What the hell are you talking about? You've never been an X-Man in the first place'. "For a little while… Before I backstabbed them."

"Great going. You're not coming." Naruto said, grinning.

"Think you can really stop me if I decided I want to come?" Naruto was about to reply 'Hell yeah' to him, but when he turned around, Deadpool was nowhere to be found. He blinked… And realized that's what ninja do. He was good at stealth too, when he wanted he… He punched himself. Facing that thought would mean selfdestruction at that moment.

--

"So, can you tell me what possessed you to not consult with me before hand, Hill?"

"I was not forced to, Stark. You're the leader of the Avengers, I'm the leader of S.H.I.E.L.D.." Tony just narrowed his eyes even more. He restrained himself from slamming his hands on the desk just because of self control.

"Hill, maybe you don't understand that the Cube got almost exposed to the public by the newest member of my team. I think that from now on, we should consult each other before doing anything. Even over 'trivial matters' like apprehending a group of underage superhumans of the west coast."

"So you're afraid that your newest toy will discover about some of the deals with the devil we have to do daily too soon?" Maria commented sarcastic. Tony just moved away from her and closed his helmet's mask with his hand.

"That's one way to look at it, Maria. The other one is… You don't want this boy against you. I don't want him." Stark said and started walking away. But the director of S.H.I.E.L.D. had a few more questions.

"Is he that powerful?"

"…" Tony stopped walking and turned around. He guessed that he owed the woman an explanation. "It's not about that. Yes, he has a lot of power and room for growth. On top of that he has that arcane power of which he hasn't even used half, but it's nothing we couldn't handle. If worse comes to worse, we always have the Sentry."

"Then, what is it about?" For once, Maria Hill really didn't have a clue.

"The boy has something about him that's even more dangerous, Hill. Have you read the latest report and his file?" Naruto's costume had indeed been fried, but its monitoring system wasn't going to get fried by a simple electrical discharge. No matter if its source was the Vision. He had made sure of that. "He's befriended till now three groups of superhumans. He has proven himself to be a capable fighter. And did you see the effect he had on the media? In so little time he has reached a level of popularity that most superhumans reach in years. And on top of that, he reached that level in a climate of distrust and hate for superhumans in general like the one we're going through right now."

"…" Maria Hill thought about Tony's words… And she found out he was right. That was pretty… Unusual, to say the least. "What are you getting to?"

"The kid has a quality that has belonged to very few people over the course of history. A kind of charm, we could say, that comes just like that. He inspires people and makes them feel stronger just by talking or standing next to him. He doesn't even try to do it, he just does. And he doesn't even realize it." Tony's face was deadly serious. Maria could realize it even if his mask covered it. "Even in the superhuman community… I can think of just one person who has that kind of effect on people. I would know because I experienced that first hand half my adult life."

"… You can't be possibly talking about…" For once, the director of S.H.I.E.L.D. was speechless.

"He has the potential. He needs to grow a lot, but… I think he could be the right person." Iron Man didn't need for Maria to say 'The right person for what?' to continue. "Hill, no matter how this ends. We win, Cap wins… Neither side comes out unscathed. No one will ever look at Iron Man or Captain America the same way. No one will look at superheroes the same way."

"And you think that training the next Captain America is the answer you're looking for? The boy isn't even American." Commented the woman, turning around from the man in armour.

"… We cannot fix what has been done. We can control the outcome, its progression, but we can't deny that the future is in the hand of the young ones. And I think that Militia is the right person to lead his peers the right way." Tony started to walk away again and opened the door. "But if he starts having doubts about this, we could lose him. You can't exploit such a gift fully if you go into hiding."

"… If you could, I guess Cap would have us hanging by our toes, by now."

--

"Ahhh… It's nice to be at… Hmmm, I guess I could call it home." Naruto really didn't know how to call the Xavier's. Or better, he really didn't know what the thing was to him by now. Most of the time he had spent in that world, he had spent there. And the first people he had befriended, he had befriended there. So… Some kind of second home. He grinned. "Yes. Let's say it's good to be home."

He was currently standing in front of the front gate, deciding if he should simply knock or just jump over the fence… Well, he thought that the sentinels wouldn't let him or would react accordingly. So, he simply used the entry phone.

"_Hello? Who is it?"_ He didn't recognize the voice, if he had to be truthful.

"Uzumaki Naruto, alias Militia. Back for the weekend." He said with a grin, even if he was sure they couldn't see him through the thing… Well, maybe they could. Whatever the case, the gates opened silently in front of him, and he walked in, bag hanging over his shoulder… He didn't manage to walk much before a telekinetic field of a familiar shade of green suddenly grabbed him and pulled him inside the mansion at full speed. He landed in the middle of the common room on his feet.

"What? Missed me that much?" Julian shook his head, chuckling.

"Not me. Her." Naruto turned slowly around just to be tackled to the ground by a flash of red and silver. He didn't get a chance to say 'Hi, Cess' before getting showered in kisses. Deadpool would have a field day with this if Cess actually wore lipstick. He was sure he would find a witty comment about the various marks that the girl would have left. When she settled for snuggling, he finally managed to get into a sitting position.

"I haven't been away THAT long." All he got as a reply was a chant.

"Missedyoumissedyoumissedyousomuch…" He rolled his eyes and got back on his feet while the others came into the room. He waved.

"Hey, guys. How's the world been treating you?" He said. Laurie rolled her eyes before hugging him.

"The usual. Worse than shit. But we manage to get through." He hugged the blonde back and then moved to the same kind of greeting with Noriko, who whispered something in his ear. He replied with a grunt and 'I told you! I don't speak Japanese!'. He then looked around and saw all the others. He couldn't hug the males nor Sooraya, but… He blinked when he saw that someone was missing.

"Where's Laura? Sh… AHHHHH!" Naruto almost jumped out of his skin when someone suddenly hugged him from behind. He groaned as he tried to calm his now frantic beating. "Laura, sneak-hugging someone is never a good idea."

"Sorry…" He sighed and turned around to hug her properly. He then picked up his bag from the ground.

"Well, gotta unpack. Anyone wanna fill me on the latest gossip on my way?" Laurie immediately stopped Laura and Cessily with her hands.

"If I know you two, I don't think he will leave his room for a couple of hours if I let you go with him." The two had the decency to blush while Naruto grinned and Laurie started to pull him away by his right arm. "Come on, I will accompany you, Naruto."

"Thanks. I'll see you in a while." The group laughed at Cess and Laura's expenses while the two blondes walked forward and turned around. Naruto's attention immediately fell on Laurie's left arm, who didn't look robotic at all. It looked perfectly normal. Skin, nails and all. "I see you upgraded your artificial appendage."

"Stop trying to talk like that, it just doesn't suit you." She chuckled and held out said limb, and to demonstrate that it indeed was robotic, she demonstrated by making her middle finger open in pieces, revealing its robotic nature along with some kind of screwdriver. "The new model still projects the bullet-proof field but I dropped the teleporting device. It occupied a lot of space that I invested in a lot of other useful tools."

"Like a screwdriver and…?" He said, mocking her a little. She just replied by putting the middle finger back in place and pointing her hand at him in the shape of a gun. Suddenly, the point of her index finger retracted and opened in a little hole. "A gun?"

"Fires little balls of compressed air. You never run out of bullets." She winked and blew on the finger before making it go back in a normal shape, just before they stopped in front of his door which Naruto opened. "Other demonstrations later."

"Nah, it would ruin the surprise. You never know when you can get into trouble." He opened the door silently and was surprised to find the room very clean and tidy, even if he had been away from it for almost a week. "Wow. Who kept it this clean?"

"I tidied it up. Laura took care of the dust." She said chuckling. Naruto had shuddered like to say 'It's getting creepy'. "Just once. We didn't search the room daily for hair or fingernails."

"Good to know." He said sincerely, before putting the bag on the bed and getting the jacket off. And then his shirt. Laurie blushed and turned around.

"Ehm… Do you usually get changed when girls are in your room?" Commented Laurie. Naruto replied with a blink of sincere confusion… Before smacking his forehead.

"Ahhh, sorry. I'm just used to it by now. With Cessily and Laura, you know…" He said with a grin before reaching for his bag and putting back on another shirt. "Where's Santo? Still moping?"

"A bit. And he's helping looking for someone." Naruto nodded and reminded himself to ask about the missing person later. "He was ballistic the first two days, though."

"Eh. Then wait till I tell him about yesterday evening." He turned around and chuckled at Laurie's amused look. She knew by now to expect anything from him. He turned back to emptying the bag with a grin. "Dinner with Janet Van Dyne. The Wasp."

"… Oh my god, you're not joking." Laurie commented after a few moments of gasping. He chuckled and blushed a little. Before he basically threw herself on the bed. "Talk! What happened?!"

"Nothing much. She just wanted to ask me to go to her talkshow sooner or later…" Naruto said… And then groaned, blushing a little more. "And to tease poor, little, naive me endlessly. And the worse is, I don't think all of it was all just a tease."

"…" Laurie stared at Naruto for a few seconds before letting her face fall to the mattress. "Oh, well. I guess that you're safe for another year or two."

"One year and three months. My birthday is on the 10th of October." Naruto groaned and finished unpacking. "Now, better get back with the others before they start thinking we're fooling around behind their backs in the kinky way."

"You wish!"

--

"... Janet Van Dyne, hn?"

"In Pym, ex husband Hank Pym, known by the aliases Giant-Man, Goliath, currently Yellowjacket."

"Ehm…" Naruto had yet to face one of the worse enemies ever. A jealous girl. And a jealous fanboy, observing how Santo was muttering obscene death-treats concerning his figure and the reason of his being male. "Well, don't you wanna know about what I did on my missions?"

"Yes, change the subject…" Muttered Cessily loud enough for Naruto to hear.

"Oh, come on! Nothing happened! Look, Laura isn't upset at all!" He said, but the argument wasn't really convincing because Laura hardly ever got upset.

"Because it's highly improbable that someone in the position of the Wasp would risk to seduce an underage male." Cessily grumbled a bit, having to acknowledge the logic in that reasoning. "That, and I'm positive I could eliminate in case the need ar…"

"ANYWAY!" The change of subject was very much needed. "As I was saying, on my first mission I got paired with another superhero. We hunt down a trio of other superhumans, the B.A.D. girls. It didn't end well, though."

"Another superhero? Who?" Julian asked, removing his attention from his lunch. Naruto grinned.

"Deadpool." That single sentence made most of the people at the table who were eating choke on their food, along with a few of the senior X-Men who were listening to the discussion thanks to Emma's powers. "Oh, come on! He's not that crazy… Well, he is, but he's fun to have around once you understand how to deal with him."

"I can't believe what I'm hearing." David was the one saying this, being the smartest one around there and knowing Deadpool from the stories of the senior X-Men, he understood what you meant when you said Deadpool-crazy. And he was starting to suspect that Naruto had gotten infected.

"… I can't believe what I'm seeing." This one was Emma, effectively in disbelief in what she was seeing in Naruto's head. "He goes away to join the Avengers and he comes back befriending Deadpool."

"And with the crazy fucker in tow." Everyone turned to Logan, who had just finished smelling the air around and got up from his seat. Emma didn't understand what he meant… Then she remembered that because of the constant process of regeneration of his brain cells, Deadpool was immune to telepathic detection. Logan approached Naruto. "Boy, stand up."

"Eh? What's up, Logan? H-Hey!" Wolverine wasn't very patient, so he just got Naruto up from his seat by grabbing the back of the boy's shirt. "What's the big idea?!"

"You've got a clandestine aboard." Naruto blinked but suddenly, his belt unhinged himself from his pants and jumped away and then got enveloped in a puff of smoke, making Naruto's jaw drop in surprise.

"YOU'VE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!"

"Oh, come on! Not my fault is I'm as awesome as I am!" Deadpool said, back into all his red and black 'awesomeness', before Wolverine slammed three claws through his head. "Ow."

"What the hell are you doing here?" Asked the Canadian while Naruto paled.

"H-Hey! Isn't that a bit excessive, Logan?!" The thought of having claws through one's head made the blonde very sick. Watching it, though…

"Ah, just tagging along with the kiddo." Deadpool simply took a step back and popped the claws out of his head. "You know, we've been sharing secret techniques and all that. He taught me how to transform, I taught him how to break the fourth wall and even a bit of the fifth."

"…" Logan popped his claws back and groaned. "I'm not putting up with this."

"…" Naruto was let down on the ground on his butt. He groaned and slowly got back on his feet. "God punish me for the day I've decided to teach you that technique. I believed it would take you years."

"What can I say. My ninja-fu beats yours." Naruto slapped his face, since he still had to come to terms with that little particular.

"Whatever. Just shut up so I can introduce you properly." He then turned to the table of the utterly terrified young mutants, Laura apart. "Guys, this is Deadpool. Wade, these are… Well, the list is long. Just one rule: no touching the girls."

"Hey, nubile young men!" Because of this, the boys shivered. It was going to be a long day… And yet, Naruto's thoughts were that he was going to have fun. Maybe he really did get infected…

--

Talking about infections and diseases, in another dimension something had gone terribly wrong with the world because of something like that. It was a very particular kind of disease, since it only infected superhumans. But the effects… They were worse than any kind of disease ever known to man.

The worst that a disease can do to you is killing you. But this one disease did worse than that. What can be worse than death? Well, take J. Romero's works. Now, make those zombies superpowered. You should more or less have it.

"It worked… The machine has been destroyed." That world's infected Reed Richards had tried to find a way to get into another world, since their hunger was endless and not because of physical reasons. Even in 'un-death', Reed Richards had stayed that genius he's known to be, and foresaw that their food supply would run out, sooner or later. But that another world's Fantastic Four and their world's Magneto had stopped them from doing it. "It ends here… Those monsters… They're trapped in this dimension."

"Yeah, we're trapped here, all right." Magneto didn't get surprised or anything. He knew that that explosion couldn't have killed many of them. The voice mocking him belonged to the 'zombified' DareDevil, for lack of a better term to define the disease with. "With you." But he wasn't alone.

"Face it, Mags. There's no way out." It was interesting to note that apart the direct consequences of the disease, most of the infected's personalities were still the same. Take Spider-Man. Still the same. "Do you really want to go to all the trouble of fighting us off when you could just succumb to the inevitable and give up?"

"I know you're not looking forward to being devoured, but I give you my word…" Or this world's Captain America, called 'Colonel America', still held his honour. "If you surrender I'll make sure you die painlessly first." Well, sort of.

"Screw that! I want to hear this one squeal. The fight is half the fun!" Wolverine, instead, hadn't forgotten all the trouble he had gone through because of the lord of magnetism, even if right now the position were reversed. He, an X-Man, was the treat, and Magneto was the good guy. "I've been waiting for this!"

"…" Magneto slowly got back on his feet from his prone position. Blowing up the dimension-travelling machine had taken up a lot of concentration, and the explosion had damaged him as well, since he was so close to its epicentre.

"Just submit. We can see you're about to pass out. You're a wreck…" Continued DareDevil, observing the now so weak form of the mutant. "This is only going to end badly. Why put yourself through one last struggle?"

"There's plenty of fight still left in me." Said the silver haired mutant, before demonstrating just how true his words were. Silently, lots of metallic objects around him started to float… Before quickly being hurled at various targets as makeshift projectiles. The iron beam through DareDevil's chest was particularly gross. Using the distraction provided, Magneto tried to fly away, but slower than he usually could, still debilitated.

"You think you can get away from us?! All it takes is one bite and it's all over!"

"You're only making this harder on yourself!" Colonel America and Spider-Man immediately gave chase, the first grabbing onto one of Magneto's ankles with his free hand, while Spider-Man realized something.

"Out of webbing… Crap!" And he had just jumped off a pretty high place. In the meanwhile, Magneto observed the figure dangling from his foot.

"Oh, good. You brought the shield." One of the few really indestructible objects in the world, made of metal, to a fight with the lord of magnetism. Suffice to say, Magneto just took the shield and used it to saw cleanly through Colonel America's brain. He then landed on top of a nearby roof and panting, he took the shield with him and started climbing down from it… Only to stumble at the last step of the ladder and fall on the ground, signs of fatigue clearly showing.

"C'mon, Magnus… You were most powerful mutant alive before you were the only mutant alive… You can beat this…" He talked to himself to get his bearings back and to focus on his objective. "Find a place to hide… Heal… That's all you need. Come on…" The objective, as degrading as it could seem, it was simply survival.

--

"Got any seven?"

"Go fish."

"Darn." Deadpool was losing badly at 'go fish' with Rockslide. Santo was probably the one who had 'warmed up' the sooner to the mercenary, since he was one of the few he couldn't hurt unless he possessed some kind of heavy weapon. And it seemed that he wasn't carrying any around with him at the moment. And him transforming into Ben Stiller probably helped. But before that, there had been some amusing scenes. Like Deadpool trying to cope a feel from Laurie. That did not end well and gave the blonde girl an occasion of showing her new 'tools'. He still had a hole from the last air-bullet.

"So, what do you think of him?" Naruto was instead currently watching the television, between his assignments and meeting with Layla. Not that he minded meeting with Layla.

"Do you really have to ask?!" Laurie was still angry, not that it was that strange. Naruto smirked at the her. She sighed. "But, well, if I really have to say… From the stories the teachers told about him, I always imagined him to be the homicidal kind of crazy. Instead… He's the fun kind of crazy, I must say."

"Well… Maybe it's because he doesn't have anyone to kill. I don't know myself, actually." Naruto's comment made his peers turn to him. "Well, when I offered him my friendship, he said somethings about not knowing some parts of him that could turn me away."

"Hmm… That's pretty deep, I must say." Noriko didn't think that such words could come out of Wade Wilson's mouth, from that little she had seen of him.

"Hmm, yeah… Uh?" Naruto had still to got used to his sense being more acute than before. That meant that he could hear better and see better, even in the dark. That was how he heard a little, almost imperceptible sound far away. It was merely more loud than a whisper. "What was that?"

"That what?" Asked Cessily, raising his head from her resting position on Naruto's right shoulder. Naruto just got up from the couch and approached the window, opening it. He focused on the surroundings, and he got that same noise again. Only, a bit louder, this time.

"Hmm… Alright, I did this with smell, let's do it with hearing." Naruto closed his eyes and began to focus. He remembered the teachings from the academy. Enhance hearing was a bit more difficult than muscles. Like smell. You had to gather chakra to many points, all delicate, otherwise you could damage them. He didn't remember the names of the things in his ears, but he remembered the locations. He gathered as much chakra as he could… Maybe too much. "OW!" He had basically caught the sound of an explosion like it was right in his ear. "W-What the… What the hell is happening?!"

"What… …" Laura stopped beside Naruto, suddenly noticing what had probably made him fall on the ground. She saw the light of a fire in the distance out of the window. "The 198. Something's happening."

"The 198?"

"Hmmm… My common sense is tingling." Deadpool says, interrupting the game of Go Fish. Naruto turns to him and stares for a few seconds… Before bursting out laughing so hard that he has to hold his sides. Deadpool frowns. "Hey!"

"AHAHAHAH! COMMON SENSE! PRECIOUS, WADE! PRECIOUS!" When he recovered, Naruto decided that it would be a good course of action to go check out the pretty red lights.

--

"Colonel Reyes, what's the situation?"

"They 198 started a riot. Looks like it was a diversion to draw our attention from the perimeter wall. Seems as though they had friends on the outside." Bishop had made a deal with Tony Stark. The exact details are unknown, but it is known that he asked to join the SRA hunting forces and that he asked to deal personally with everything that regarded unregistered mutants. That meant also keeping a close eye on the X-Men and 198 so that they didn't go and join the rebel side.

"Shatterstar and Domino." Bishop said, observing the two mutants who had weapons, in the middle of the fray. "They're X-Force."

"They just blew a hole in a wall built with U.S. tax-payers' money. They're terrorists!" Seems like names and associations became just details, in that matter. He took hold of the mic on his shirt and brought it to his mouth. "Sentinels! Lay down continuous fire! No one goes trough that wall!"

The ordered was followed, while some mutants began to come their way as well. Bishop took out his gun and took care of a few of them quickly. The colonel almost forgot to shout about something else. "Where the hell are the other X-Men? If we don't get other back-up, I'm ordering my men to switch to lethal ordnance."

"I called. The X-Men will be here." Bishop said, letting another shot explode against another mutant coming to face him.

"What about a trainee X-Man and an Avenger?" The ground suddenly shook, like something big had landed upon it. Bishop and the colonel looked behind them to find Naruto letting Laurie on the ground, holding his now aching back. "Ow. I need practice on the whole 'Super-Jump' thing."

"What are you doing here?! Students are to stay inside the mansion's boundaries." Naruto rolled his eyes.

"First, I'm not a student. I'm an Avenger. Tony Stark's official team?" Naruto put emphasis on the words with his fingers. "Laurie is. And, we have a way to stop all this madness before anyone gets seriously hurt."

"…" Bishop turned around and kept on staring at the two blondes who had just joined the fray, while at the same time backhanding another mutant.

"As I've already said, you're confined to the mansion! Till the senior X-Men come, we can…" Suddenly, a very loud noise. The trio turned around just to see a big-ass thunderbolt fall over the two sentinels left, taking them out of order.

"That's a nice trick." Naruto whistled and then turned to the colonel with a grin. "I think that now it's time to get some 'young' help?"

"…" The colonel groaned. "Your plan?"

"Laurie Collins here can produce pheromones that influence one's emotional state." Naruto said, turning to Laurie who was keeping her eyes closed, and her bionic arm had lost it's skin, revealing the metallic underside. "So, the plan is, we blast the entire place with some kind of debilitating pheromone and stop most them from even fighting back for a little while, enough for me do to my job."

"… How do you plan on 'spreading the gospel'?" The colonel liked the sound of the plan, but he still had to hear about it's execution. Naruto grinned and turned to Laurie.

"Laurie?"

"Done." Laurie opened her eyes and walked a bit, beside Bishop, pointing her arm forward. The bionic appendage suddenly started modifying itself. It became shorter and larger, till becoming… A cannon. A cannon with a fire hole the size of a basketball. "You should tell your men to be ready and put on some kind of protection, general."

"… To all men! Put on air-filters! Right now!" The colonel ordered by shouting. Everyone who was still on his feet would obey. Suddenly, Laurie's arm began to make some kind of strange noise. Like a vacuum, sucking in air. Only, incredibly loud. Naruto smiled and crossed his arms.

"This is going to be fun…" He said, before the noise ended…

"Ah!" And Laurie released what could only be defined as a big ass bullet of air. The projectile travelled across the battlefield raising pebbles and ripping off grass, losing intensity with each meter, spending itself completely near the wall. Then… Laughter. Booming laughter began to echo from all around. Laurie grinned and put her arm back together. "All yours, Naruto."

"Alright!" Naruto ran forward and then jumped high into the air. In the meanwhile, on the ground, Domino seemed to be the one less affected by the sudden attack.

"Ahahah… Damn…" She snorted before trying to get back on her feet, her sides hurting. "I didn't expect for one of the students…"

"Ahahahahah! Teenagers are falling from the sky!" Domino laughed at that, while she really was thinking that Caliban had somewhat infected Shatterstar too… Before she looked up. There really was an horde of teenagers falling upon them. Her eyes widened.

"Oh, shit…" She began to focus, her head almost hurting. She had already done a big thing with the thunderbolt, now he had to do something with a small army…

"Watch out down belooow… Ouch!" Naruto didn't understand exactly what had happened, but he had stumbled and landed bad. He fell to the ground… And while bouncing over the ground he noticed that many of his clones were having the same bad luck, disappearing immediately in clouds of smoke. "W-What the?!"

"Caliban!" Domino said, and the grey mutant's eyes suddenly flashed red…

_Continue…_

_In the next chapter…_

It seems that the X-Men can never ever get a break. And neither Naruto can. After spending the week-end at the Xavier's mansion, is time to go back to New York. Where Naruto gets to know Tony's next plans for ending the war. But will he like them? Stay tuned!


	23. Civil War VII SuperUpdate

Oh, well… What can I say. It's incredible what a good talk can do. My father has been talking to me for years in his fashion, nothing. My brother talks to me once, and I get my ass in gear. :) I aced 4 exams in one month, and so, I'm back on the FF boat. Expect almost all my stories to be updated, pals! One will be replaced by another version of it, we can say. I will not say which one it is till the time comes, sorry. For today, enjoy the update of No Reading and Journey of a Thousand James. Enjoy!

**No Reading**

**Chapter21: Red Thunder**

"Going to bri… AAAAACK!"

"Calm down. You're fine, now." Naruto shook his head to regain the bearing of his surroundings. He blinked a couple of times to clear his vision, a bit foggy… He was in the 198's… Courtyard. But the point was, the 198 weren't anywhere in sight.

"What happened?" He asked to the person holding his head, while slowly getting back to his feet. The person in question was Emma Frost.

"You've got attacked by a mutant named Caliban. He basically cut you off from the real world. Let's leave it at that." The White Queen said while Naruto cracked his neck and looked around. He found Laurie.

"Hey. Didn't we… I mean, what happened to my copies? And where are all those guys?" Naruto said, massaging the back of his neck. Someone had got in a good hit, it seems. Laurie scratched the back of his head.

"With all those people if I don't continuously pour pheromones, the effects are short lived." She sighed and let her shoulders slump. "Basically, once all your clones tripped on landing because of Domino, they got away."

"… They… Tripped? All of them?" Naruto said, an eyebrow raised in disbelief.

"Happens with that chick. Wasn't she working for Nate, though?" Naruto turned around, noticing that Deadpool had arrived as well. "Basically, she has probability power. She doped up the probability that you and your clones tripped upon landing aaaaaand… It happened."

"… That's awfully… Convenient." Naruto really thought that. I mean, it basically meant that… "I mean, think about using it for playing cards."

"Well, our plan didn't go as good as we thought… Sorry." Laurie said, joining her hand in front of her face. Suddenly, colonel Reyes put a hand on her right shoulder.

"It's alright, girl. It was a good plan… And at least you tried." Saying that last sentence, the colonel turned to the other senior X-Men standing behind him, then back to Laurie and Naruto. "You did well. Now let the O.N.E. handle this." He patted her once more for good measure and Laurie crossed her hands behind her back and grinned at Naruto.

"I got praised by a colonel! How cool is that?" Naruto laughed at Laurie's cheerfulness.

"A lot… But I'm happy this will be in someone's else hand and it's not such a big mess." Naruto stretched his back and arms. "I mean, no one got hurt."

"Yeah. And you get to enjoy your week-end of break from Avengers stuff. Now, shall we get back to the mansion? The others are probably fuming that you pulled the 'I'm an Avenger and you're X-Men trainees so stay here' thing on them." She said with a smile and then started to walk back to the mansion ahead of him. Naruto chuckled. He was happy to see her that happy.

"Hmmm… Now, you are what I call a alpha male, pal." Naruto blinked. Not because it surprised him to suddenly hear Deadpool talking again, but because he seriously didn't understand what he had said.

"Eh?" Deadpool chuckled.

"Well, there's the silver goo girl, hormonal Wolverine, that will gross me out forever, and the flower girl from the slums… Ah, no. That's another spiky haired blonde. I meant another mutant chick. And the fourth one is on her way, I see. What's with you and mutants, by the way? Some kind of X-fetish?" Naruto just stared, sceptical.

"Deadpool, what the hell are you going on about?" Deadpool just laughed and put an arm around his shoulders.

"Just meant that pheromone girl is smelling the air too." Naruto rolled his eyes.

"Laurie. Yeah right."

"Oh, come on. You get along a lot, you took a bullet for her, even if unintentionally, you even make a good team, it seems. And she got infected by your trademark grin too. So, wait for another groupie very soon." Naruto blushed and frowned.

"Oh, come on. It's impossible… I mean…" Naruto thought about it… It made kind of sense, he supposed. He sighed heavily. "Man, I… I swear, I'm doing nothing but acting like myself. And back home, this got me nothing, in that sense."

"I guess this is your nirvana, then." Deadpool chuckled, putting an arm around his shoulders. "Ok. Question. Right now, who's the most probable?"

"Uh? Most probable what?" Naruto said, with a blink. Deadpool raised an eyebrow.

"You know… The definitive. Because… More girls at a time it's usually bad. For you." Naruto's confused face just told Deadpool 'For real?'. His eyes widened. "Dude… Your parents didn't teach you anything about this matter?"

"I'm an orphan. What should have they taught me?" Deadpool's eyes suddenly widened in realization. Now he understood. The boy was the perfect mix. A good heart, funny, naïve and that untouched innocence… The boy had never been told anything by anyone about romantic relationships. He had been told about the flowers and bees, but on a purely social and romantic level… He had nothing. "Oi! You alright?!"

"… Boy." Deadpool suddenly gripped Naruto's shoulders even tighter. "In the American culture, the road you're heading down has never been tried… Well, rarely, and even less it has lead to success." Naruto was really starting to get freaked out. "You'll either get burned out or live your entire life in bliss. Either way… Be proud."

"… What the hell did you smoke?" Wade just patted his shoulders again and let him go.

"Let's just go back. Your groupies or future executors are waiting for you."

--

"We're back." Naruto said, walking into the living room. Most of the younger X-Men had gone to sleep. In the living room there were just Cessily and Noriko. "Wow. Everyone's gone to sleep? Not curious?"

"Miss Frost told us telepathically." Noriko said, stretching her back and arms. "And since you're back too, we can go to sleep."

"Alright. Man, the room back at Avengers Tower is good, but here just has another smell to it." Naruto said, then he approached Cessily and kissed her cheek. She smiled warmly at him. "Next time just go to sleep, alright?"

"Alright. Night." Naruto nodded and then began to walk away towards the stairs, while waving at the others behind him, before a yawn found its way out of his throat. Then, Deadpool's trouble senses started kicking him in the head. He jumped back out of the window.

"Well, I'm going too. I…"

"Laurie, can you stay, please?" Cessily suddenly interrupted Laurie, who was a bit confused by her friend's sudden comment.

"Ehm… Sure?" Noriko rolled her eyes. She knew where that was going. She hightailed out of there. Cessily waited for her to be out of hearing range before talking. Or better, before answering to Laurie. "What is it?" She said, sitting on one of the couches.

"…" Cessily stared at her for a few more seconds before talking again. "What do you think of Naruto?"

"Eh?" To think that Laurie was surprised by that question would be an understatement. She thought of a joke, but she found Cessily with a serious face, even if she was half-laying on the couch. "Well… What everyone else thinks of him, I suppose. He's funny, a good friend, he's loyal, he's got enough charisma to have made it to be an Avenger…"

"I meant that other way." Cessily said, interrupting Laurie. The blonde girl raised an eyebrow.

"That… Oh." Her eyes widened in realization. "Ohhhhhh… No, Cess. No. I don't… Geez, why would you think…? No, I don't…"

"You're blushing, Laurie." Laurie was surprised by that. She was? Cessily groaned and put a cushion on her face.

"I knew this was happening… Damn him and his 'treat everyone the best I can'." She said, her words muffled by the thing.

"Cess, I swear that I don't like Naruto 'that' way."

"Not yet. But you will. I'm certain of it." Laurie blushed a little more and the redhead shook her head. "Ooooh, now I'm getting all sad again…"

"…" Laurie sighed. She guessed that she could change the subject of the discussion. "What's troubling you, Cessily?"

"… Myself, Laurie. Myself." Cessily removed the cushion from her face and threw it away. "I mean… You know how happy I was with how Naruto liked me and didn't find me a freak, you know? But now there's Laura and… That girl from X-Factor." Laurie blinked. Cessily simply said. "I went through his text messages."

"Ah…" Laurie said, and the silver mutant put her head in her hands, suddenly feeling very, very sad.

"I mean, now it's all… Basic, you know? But then I think about if he ever would ask someone to get serious… And I think that I would be the less probable candidate." Laurie's mouth opened to say something but she got cut off by Cess again. "I'm made of silver, Laurie. I don't think I can even have sex." The blonde blushed very, very hard at that. "On the other hand she has the female clone of Wolverine, who is as cool as he is and very good looking, a blonde girl with some kind of telepathic power that likes to flash him on the phone, and soon, the beautiful blonde who had the resolve to cut off her own arm to get back to being a superhero and kick ass."

"…" Laurie was scarlet now, but the embarrassment died when she saw Cessily shed a single tear.

"And… On top of that, he comes from another world. W-What if he has someone waiting for him there? And family? W-What if… Oh god, Laurie…" Cessily covered her face with both her hands. "I feel so scared…"

"…" Laurie stared at her friend for a bit and then moved to her couch and hugged her. "Now, ask yourself this. Would Naruto ever push you away because of something like sex?" Cessily thought about it a little… And she guessed not. Laurie noticed that the angles of her friend's mouth had raised a little again. "First, I think that Naruto doesn't know what it means to love someone that way. He's pretty naïve on the romantic area. All he has done till now is just being the nicest guy ever to whoever he likes."

"…" Cessily thought about it and she remembered that it was indeed true. It wasn't like he had pursued anything of the sort with her… It was like, he was just accepting what came to him and tried his best to make it work.

"Also, I think that if you get creative enough, you could have sex, you know…" Laurie said with a chuckle.

"Ehm…" It was Cess' turn to blush, even if Laurie herself blushed because of her words. The redhead scratched her right cheek. "Maybe… I should… Ask miss Frost and mister McCoy for pointers?"

"God, I can't believe that we're seriously talking about how to shapeshift yourself so that you can have sex…" Cessily blushed even more and pushed the laughing Laurie away playfully. She then smiled.

"Thank you, Laurie. You really are a good friend." Cessily said… And then decided to tease Laurie a little too. "You know, if Naruto doesn't mind, I could share…"

"C-CESSILY!" Laurie took a cushion and hit Mercury on top of her head with it. The tease wasn't at its end, though.

"Too bad. You don't know what you're missing…" The silver girl said with a whistle…

"… What do you mean?" And that's when the thing backfired. Cessily didn't expect for Laurie to take that last comment seriously. She turned to her blonde friend to find curiosity and embarrassment mixed on her face. "So?"

"…" Cessily covered her face. "Oh, god… Can we just let this drop?" Definitely backfired.

"… So?" Cessily groaned and then shapeshifted one of her hands in a particular shape of a particular size. Laurie stared… Then blushed very hard. "Oh. OH. That's what… Oh."

"I want to die…" Cessily said while, Deadpool, transformed in a fly, was so glad to have tagged along with Naruto.

--

"…" It was a battlefield. It was just a little patch of forest, but their mere presence had turned it into a battlefield. He still didn't remember what had possessed him to accept such a challenge. It had been hell. Hell. He was surprised that in the end, he had been the only one left apart… Him. It was a 'every man for himself' kind of thing, but he couldn't help but feel scared and sympathetic every time he saw one of them get brutally taken out by that red and black spectre. "…" He tensed up when he heard a twig snap somewhere behind him.

"Ohhhhh, my little birdieeee? Where can you be?" He heard him mocking him. He held back a curse but gritted his teeth. He hated him for that. It was like he was telling him 'Even if I'm out in the open, I can still get defeat you easily'. The worst thing is that it was probably true. But as that song said, 'We won't go down without a fight'… "Got ya."

His eyes widened when he found his masked face in front of himself, upside down, holding a gun in front of him with both hands. Before he could do anything, he opened fire. The projectiles hit him everywhere on his body, red splashing all over his clothes, along with blue, yellow, green, purple… He fell on the ground and frowned. "Oh, come on! It's not fair!"

"You're the one who wanted to play paintball against the awesome me!" Deadpool said while falling down on the ground again. Naruto frowned and got back on his feet, before shouting.

"Hey! He got me! Game's over!" He said, and the various other mutant students got up from their 'dead' positions, all splattered with paint. Julian was the nearest one.

"Damn, if only I could have used my powers…" Naruto rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, paintball against a telekinetic. Now, that would have been unfair." He replied, while David approached their position as well. Deadpool gave him a thumbs up.

"Nah, not really! Nerd-Boy, there, was one of the last four standing! And he's a scrawny human boy! It's all in the head, man! It's all in the head!" Deadpool said. Naruto raised an eyebrow.

"Then, shouldn't you have been taken out first, Wade?"

"John Rambo." The mercenary only said. The three boys blinked and the sighed in defeat.

"Point taken."

--

"And here are our mighty warriors back from the battlefield." Joked Noriko upon seeing the boys coming back all covered in paint while Deadpool was still clean. Cessily chuckled as well. Laura raised a question.

"I still don't understand why we had paintball equipment in the school." She simply said. Naruto shrugged.

"Don't ask me. I thought it was cool…" He then groaned when he saw that somehow, Deadpool had found shocking pink bullets to use. "Till Deadpool handed us our collective ass."

"You got it easy. I don't know if this thing is going to go away…" Santo said. He usually didn't wear much, and in paintball was no exception. So, while the others had just gotten hit on their clothes, he had gotten paint splattered all over his body.

"Come on, of course it goes away." Naruto said, sighing a little. "Oh, well. First, shower in the gym. Not want to get the room dirty. Then, I guess it's a bit of rest and then I'm so going to tell you how I took care of the Young Avengers and the Runaways at the same time."

"Who are the Runaways?" Asked Julian.

"Group of superpowered kids whose parents were the crimelords of Los Angeles or something. The senior X-Men went after them once, I remember, because the youngest member of the group is a mutant girl."

"Naruto…" The blonde stopped upon hearing Laura's voice. He turned to her and saw the black haired mutant making a gesture with her hand, motioning him to come closer to her. He did as told and then he grabbed his head and whispered something in his ear. Naruto raised an eyebrow at that.

"You want me to…?" Laura just nodded, and the other mutants almost gasped at seeing the girl blush. Laura had just blushed. Naruto stared at her for a few seconds and then just grinned. "It's alright. If that's what you want, I'll do it. It will be the first time I do something like that, though."

"…" Santo turned to Julian but before he could whisper anything Cessily smashed him behind his head with one shapeshifted hand. She had gotten the innuendo too. She didn't need the rock giant to voice it out loud.

--

"AT-CHOOOM!"

"Bless you, Molly." Karolina said, handing the little girl a handkerchief. The 'Power Princess' used it with a loud 'PROOOOOOOT' and then threw it away.

"Alright, guys. Let's focus. So… Any suggestions for your name, Victor?" Nico asked the latino guy. He sighed.

"Remember me why we're doing this again?" Nico, after their little run-in with Naruto, had taken him up on his suggestion. That meant, working to make her powers more effective. That included making it so that she could use a same spell more than once by adding the name of the target. That meant that they were currently sitting on the grass outside their cave with a dictionary in hand to get each of them super-aliases. Molly went for Power Princess.

"So that I can save your ass better, my dear. Now, do you have one or not?" Nico said narrowing her eyes. Victor sighed and scratched the back of his head.

"Well, I'm the son of Ultron, I'm half robot, I control magnetism to an extent, hmmm…" Victor brought his hand to his chin, thinking deeply about it. "Damn, this is more difficult than what I thought. I just keep on coming up with horrible names."

"Apply yourself. Xavin?" Nico turned to the skrull, currently in her human female form. She had a frown on her face, at the moment, and the magician had noticed that she wasn't sitting next to Karolina.

"I was thinking about Militia-Killer…" Nico groaned. Naruto really did pull a number on them with that 'Oiroke no Jutsu'. Now, whenever Karolina looked at a tall girl with blonde hair she remembered Naruto's transformation and started giggling in a very perverted and creepy manner… And that meant whenever she looked at herself in the mirror.

"Xavin…" Nico admonished her. The skrull warrior sighed.

"I guess I could also go with Trainee." Nico 'hmm'-ed at that.

"An interesting choice for a name. Any reason behind it?"

"First, it's because I really am still a super-skrull trainee. And yet…" To emphasize her point, Xavin 'flamed on' one of his arms, grinning a little. "I'm still a powerful and feared warrior. It will bring enemy to underestimate me, bringing their downfall, and allies to respect my still developing power."

"That's a lot of thought behind a name." Chase said, caressing Old Lace's neck. "For me, I was thinking about Wiz-Kid."

"Already taken." Nico said. Chase gaped at her. She just nodded. "Trust me. I used a spell. He was a mutant."

"Geez…" Chase grumbled and went back to think about a good alias.

"What about you, Nico?" Asked Molly all of a sudden.

"I was thinking about Black Witch… But it doesn't sound so cool, hn?" Nico said, putting a hand to her lips… Then she took the dictionary and started to go through it. "Hmm, a synonym for black… Or something that relates?"

"Well, Obsidian Witch?" Karolina suggested. Nico shook her head.

"Takes too long to say it. Hmmm… Ah! I got it! Night Witch!" The magician girl said, closing the dictionary.

"Better than Emo Witch or Goth Witch." Chase joked, earning a glare from Nico. "About my name, what about Flux?"

"Old Hulk enemy."

"DAMN IT!"

--

"So, he let you get away." It was obvious that stealing an already stolen quinjet from Cap's underground base to go on a mission that he had firmly ordered to abort would get the Young Avengers in a bit of trouble.

"Yeah… He said something among the lines of…" Patriot couldn't remember the exact words Naruto had said, strangely enough. He usually was more attentive than that. But while he couldn't remember the words, their meaning was engraved in his mind. "That just in case he discovered something was wrong on his side, he would be more at ease knowing there were people on the other side to trust."

"…" Steve Rogers thought about it. Most people would interpret those words as 'if I discover my side is wrong, I'll change sides'. But he knew better than that. But he wanted Patriot to try and get it on his own. "What do you think he meant?"

"… Well, that while he still believes we're fighting the wrong fight…" Patriot crossed his arms over his chest. "That there might be the chance that his side is fighting the right fight the wrong way. In case that happens… Well, I have no idea what he would do. But he certainly wouldn't simply switch sides… I made the joke of him creating a third side, but for all we know, he could do that for real."

"Good analysis." Cap said, while getting up from the chair he had been sitting on. "The insight you've provided me with on Militia has been useful, but you do realize that you've disobeyed a direct order and put yourself in a great risk… No, more than that. It was a complete and utter defeat. Militia didn't bring all of you in just because he began to doubt the legitimacy of his actions. Read my lips. All. Of. You."

"…" Patriot looked at the ground, ashamed. It had been very revealing regarding their situation as a group and as fighters. Cap had been right. Naruto was on the 'more' side, regarding trouble. Other than being very strong, he probably had more battle experience than all of the Young Avengers together. Add to that his cunning… No, he wasn't cunning. He was… He was everything and nothing at the same time. The right word to describe him was unpredictable. You never knew what to expect from him. "Grounded till further notice, Captain?"

"Yes. Dismissed." Cap said. Patriot saluted and then walked to his team, who was waiting for him a few meters away from the table.

"So?" Asked Speed. Patriot shook his head.

"Grounded till further notice. And I think he's right. We've been careless." Patriot said, acknowledging his error. Speed frowned.

"Careless? Dude, we've been annihilated by two guys, each one fighting on his own, in the arc of twenty-four hours. Don't know about you, but to me, that's a pretty big blow to my self-esteem." The others couldn't help but agree with him.

"The thing is that Naruto has far more experience in fighting than us. Including against seemingly impossible odds, it seems." Patriot said, removing his mask, sighing deeply right after. "Also, I think that he trains a lot, when he's not fighting. I doubt he gives other things much thought…"

"… I don't know how or why, but believe me. You're wrong on this one."

--

"Damn it!" Naruto cursed loudly. It was an hour that his ears kept on whistling.

"Still your ears?" Laura said, resting her head on his chest. He nodded.

"Yes. Seems like today, people just can't shut up about me… Oh, well. Where was I?" Naruto had found a couple of things really strange. First, it seemed like Laura and Cessily researched his attentions at different times. It never happened to overlap each other. He found it curious. Second, probably the strangest one, was Laura's request. He had complied with it, but he couldn't help but smile. Laura acted at time like a mature woman, at time like a teenager, and there were times like that one where her mind was like the one of a child. As confirmed by the book he was holding and that she had asked him to read to her. A collection of fables. He was currently going through 'The Emperor's New Clothes'. "I should very much like to know how they are getting on with the cloth," thought the emperor. But he felt rather uneasy when…"

--

"How's it going, then, Reed?"

"Magnificent, Tony… Magnificent." The SRA was just the first step. Reed, Hank and Tony had gone through a series of plan and ideas, 100 just on the first night of planning. Other ones had gone into gear after the outbreak of the Civil War. One of these was project was the so called 'Codename Lightning'. "We just need to input the directives for his behaviour and we'll be set."

"…" Hank observed the monitors, while Tony checked on their subject's vital signs. They were stable. "This is the living proof that we're futurists, hn?"

"You at least, Tony. You're the one who kept Thor's hair ever since the first meeting of the Avengers." Hank said, chuckling. Seriously, it was kinda creepy that he had searched the carpet for Thor's 'traces' right after the meeting ended.

"What do you think the team is going to think of this?"

"… Well, not everyone will approve immediately, of course. I have concerns about Susan, particularly… But they do trust us, after all. They will come around immediately after, since he could be the key for ending this without anyone getting seriously hurt." Reed said, typing another set of numbers on his keyboard.

"… I wonder about Militia…" Tony chuckled. "I bet he will be excited to see a clone… Of a god, nonetheless."

"That boy sure does interest you a lot, Tony… Out of the scientific sphere, I mean." Reed commented. Tony nodded in agreement.

"Yes. The boy interests me. Since… It could be the card we need to make people trust in young heroes again sooner than expected." Tony said, glancing in Hank's direction. Yellow Jacket blinked.

"You mean… You want him to…"

"Let's wait. His performance during the war will give us a definite answer about his being suitable for the job or not."

--

"Hmmm… Damn, two days fly by so quickly."

"Don't tell me… I wish you could stay here a little more…" Naruto rolled his eyes at Cessily's comment.

"Yeah, like, all life long?" She chuckled and rubbed his bare chest, enjoying the afterglow… Well, afterglow wasn't the exact word, since they had just made out, but she cuddled and snuggled all the same.

"That would be alright with me, but… We have battles to fights, a world to safe, yadda yadda, right?" She replied. Naruto sighed.

"Yadda yadda, indeed…"

"WAHOOOOOOO! DEADPOOL GOES TO HOLLYWOOD!" Naruto and Cessily jumped in their bad as Wade's sudden shout echoed in the air. Even more surprising was the window opening and closing right behind a rolling Deadpool. "OH, YEAH, BABY! RYAN REYNOLDS DIGS THESE COLOURS!" He opened the door and closed it behind him before a shriek echoed from the hall.

"…" Cessily and Naruto stared for a long time before the girl voiced her opinion. "What the hell was that about?"

"The shriek? Either he went commando or he tried to kiss a girl."

"I meant the whole thing."

"Ah. I guess he got word that they're making a movie on him." Recovered by the fourth wall breaking moment, Naruto just sighed and let himself more comfortable on the bed. Staring at the ceiling, without a particular point of interest to observe. "Hmmm… Think they will let me come back here after all this Civil War thing is over?"

"Why wouldn't they?" Naruto scratched the back of his head.

"Don't know. I just felt like asking just to be sure…" Cessily just rolled her eyes and hit him playfully in the shoulder. "Hey, that hurts, silver."

"I'm not a horse." The redhead said, earning a chuckle of Naruto.

"But you sure are eager to be rode… Whoops." Cessily blushed scarlet and then slammed a cushion on Naruto's face. "Oww, my nose. Sorry, very bad joke."

"Pervert…" She said, puffing her cheeks out and getting in a sitting position on the bed, giving her back to Naruto… Before the conversation she had had with Laurie came to her mind again. She sighed. Might as well talk with him about it too. "… Naruto… Do you… Do you find me attractive?"

"Uh?" The blonde was surprised by the question. It was just that the answer was so obvious, in his mind. "Of course I do."

"Well… I mean, do you find me attractive enough… I mean, do you ever…" She was getting redder by the second. She covered her face. "God, this is embarrassing…"

"Cess, I don't really get what you're trying to say." Naruto used his elbows to push himself up from the bed, and he noticed that Cessily had somehow lost control of the coloration of her body. Her shoulders were red too. He guessed she was really, really embarrassed. "Hey, don't push yourself. If you…"

"Have you ever thought about having sex with me?" Naruto's elbows gave out and he fell back on his bed with eyes open wide and becoming red to his shoulders as well in a matter of seconds. Cessily wasn't doing much better.

"Ah-Bah-Bu-Eh…" Naruto shook his head from side to side like a flurry, and got in a sitting position to make himself comfortable at least with his body, since the thoughts going on through his head weren't exactly comfortable at the moment. "Cessily, I really must ask. What the hell?!"

"J-Just answer the question!" Cessily raised her voice a little, embarrassment and a little of worry getting the better of her. Naruto himself really felt fucked up. What was it? A trick question? She would get angry at him if he answered the wrong way? Did he have to lie? Did he have to tell half a truth? He groaned.

"Cess, what… What the hell…" He put a hand over his eyes. Cessily just kept her silence. He just stared at the darkness created by his hands for a good minute. In the end, he decided to do what felt more natural to him. Tell the truth. "… Yes. A lot." He didn't see her shiver and tense, still staring at nothing with his hand covering his eyes. He groaned loudly and threw himself back on the bed, his other hand joining the other one. "I just fucked it up, right? I mean, you probably don't want to, otherwise you would have shaped yourself a… Darn, that sounded so wrong. I… Mmmmph!"

"Thhn gd!" Even while kissing the hell out of the blonde, Cessily still tried to say out loud 'Thank god'. When she released him he gasped hungrily for air. He didn't think he had ever been that breathless before in his life. And she still didn't let him go. She was standing above him while smiling warmly at him. "Thank god…"

"… Anf… Anf…" He swallowed and then breathed in enough air to regain his bearings again. He looked up at her in an unfocused way. "Alright… What the hell was all that about?"

"Ehm…" The silver mutant put a hand to her right cheek, scratching it with her index finger in embarrassment. "Well… I was worried that you would never think of me like that… And that would eventually make you tired of me… I guess that was pretty silly of me, right?"

"…" Naruto sighed. "Yeah, it was pretty silly."

"Because, you see… Ehm…" It was time to get embarrassed again. "It's not that I don't want to… I still can't shape a… I mean, I never tried."

"…" Naruto blushed as much as Cessily. "Jeez, do you really want me to die of embarrassment, tonight?"

"Sorry! Let's not talk about it anymore!" She said, and threw herself on him, her face rubbing the side of his neck, tickling him. He just laid his hands on her back and her head and caressed her. He liked the feeling of her body. It felt so unique… What he hadn't told Cessily was that she was probably the girl he had fantasized about the most in his life. Probably because it was something that had a possibility to happen. "… Do you think I should ask Miss Frost?"

"…" Naruto groaned but still with a smile on his face. "I'm kinda tempted to say to just drop the issue, but for the sake of your sexual life I really think you should."

--

"Hmmm…" Laurie was currently in the danger room, exercising her pheromone based powers with the help of Sooraya. But she had found hard to focus ever since the discussion she had had with Cessily the previous day.

_Stupid Cess… I mean, what possessed her to think that… I mean,__ that I like Naruto that way._ She sighed. In her mind, it was really a crazy idea to even think. So what if he was funny and she found herself smiling a lot when she was around him and he was pretty cute and… Alright. She wasn't helping her argument much. She shook her head from side to side. _But even if I did like him that way, come on. I can't mess up Cessily's situation more than it already is. She already feels bad enough with just her, Laura and… Layla, I think. I can't just…_

"L-Laurie… I think you're sending out the wrong pheromones." Laurie got broke out of her reverie and opened her eyes, finding Sooraya rubbing her face under her burka. She blinked. "I just slapped myself."

"Ah! Sorry!" _Yes, definitely the wrong pheromones._ Laurie stopped emitting them while blushing profusely, feeling Sooraya's stare on her. "I was… Distracted, I suppose."

"Something you want to talk about?" Sooraya said. Laurie thought about it. After all, she couldn't talk about it to Laura or Cessily, and her choices were slim… Yes, she guessed it couldn't hurt. She sat on the ground.

"Well… It's about Naruto and Cessily." She said. Sooraya approached her and then sat on the ground right beside her. "I mean… You probably already know about the situation with Naruto and Cessily… And Laura… And that girl from X-Factor." She groaned. "Basically, Cessily thinks that I'm… Getting interested in him too. And maybe… She could be right. But she already feels bad because she believes to be the one with the least chances and… I feel like a worm even thinking of Naruto as simply attractive."

"… I think I'm not the best person to talk with about these kind of things." Laurie blinked, noticing Sooraya looking at her with an amused look.

"Why do you say that?" Laurie asked, a bit curious about Sooraya's latest statements.

"I'm a Muslim, Laurie." The blonde just shrugged her shoulders.

"So what? I…" Then Laurie remembered a particular thing about Muslims. It was a thing joked about in the occidental culture, but in some Islamic countries it was a reality. Men could have more than one wife. She blushed scarlet and covered her face with both hands. "Oh, god. I really shouldn't have asked you. These images in my mind will not go away anytime soon."

"Threesome?" Sooraya said, chuckling a little at Laurie's expenses.

"For starters…"

--

"Hmmm…" Naruto woke up slowly from his slumber, stretching and yawning. He then put a hand on the top of his head and scratched, making a very close imitation of a monkey. "Hmm, what's with my legs… Uh?" Naruto had felt his legs a bit sore… And he noticed that there was a lump under the covers just on the spot where his legs should be. "What the…"

"Wakey wakey, sausage and bakey! Even if it's not yaoi…" Deadpool had decided that Naruto needed to be embarrassed a little more that morning. He took a pic just after taking off the covers in one move, revealing Naruto with Cessily snuggling against his chest and Laura pretty much wrapped around the rest of his body. The blonde got confused. Then he noticed the situation he was in himself and blushed and suddenly became angry.

"WADE!" Naruto said, while the mercenary with a mouth just shrugged his shoulders.

"Oh, come on. I needed to get back in character. The thing about celebrating my movie was too OOC even for me."

"Yeah, and quoting webcomics isn't?"

--

"So, where do I drop you? Well, where do I make the quinjet drop you."

"Wherever. It's time I go back to work, after all." Deadpool said, enjoying the quickest ride of his life. Quinjets really were something else. Naruto had noticed that he was keeping his henge on all the time, even if the face kept on changing. Now he was old days Clint Eastwood. He suddenly grinned his way. "After all while you big guys do propaganda we black ops have to do the dirty work, right?"

"Meh, don't say that… You sound like we make you do something you don't enjoy." Naruto joked rolling his eyes.

"Meh. I'd still prefer having my personal harem and banging hot chicks all day while doing the hero thing. But I'm like, the new Benny Hill with an healing factor. And a fetish for Bea Arthur." Naruto sighed. He guessed it was kinda right. No sane person would ever ask Deadpool to take a spot on his superteam.

"Well, if I ever start my personal superteam, you can be my wing-man anytime." Naruto said, getting up from his own seat and holding out his right hand clenched in a fist.

"And there goes another pop-culture quote. Bullshit, you can be mine." Deadpool met Naruto's punch with his own one. And then the quinjet signalled that they were about to land. Deadpool got back on his feet as well. "That's my stop. I'll see you later." He approached the door of the thing and opened it manually. "Ta-Ta."

"Hey! What are you…" Deadpool just jumped out of the thing. Naruto paled and ran after him, since they were still pretty high in the air. Avenger Tower was one of the tallest buildings in the city. He followed Wilson with his gaze as he fell through the air… Till a cloud of smoke enveloped him. After it did, all he could see was an oversized falcon flying away. "… Without… Handseals? But I didn't teach him that…" Naruto kept on staring…

--

"Militia, why in hell did you decide to jump off the quinjet while it was still a good twenty meters above the landing spot?"

"I suddenly had the urge to hurt myself. Breaking my legs seemed like a good enough punishment."

"You're lucky I was on patrol." Carol sighed. Teenager and their hormones. She guessed that when you had a healing factor you felt compelled to do even crazier things than normal. Then, she frowned a little and glared at him. "And don't think I didn't notice you trying to cop a feel, little pervert."

"Sorry. I still have a little Deadpool in my system." Naruto slapped himself a couple of times to be sure that everything was back to normal. He then stretched and got back in a standing position. "Ahhh, I'm better. So, anything that I should know?"

"Well, Tony and the others said that they would show us something today, other than laying out a plan for a trap for the 'rebels'." Carol chuckled at that while she removed her mask. "God, it sounds like the plot of a bad movie… Rebels."

"Well, they're usually in the right, though, in the movies." Naruto said grinning. Carol nodded in acknowledgment.

"True. Star Wars is the most blatant example, I guess." Naruto nodded… And then bursted out laughing. Ms Marvel just stared at him. "What's wrong?"

"Eheheh… Nothing. I just…" He snickered a bit more before settling down to explain himself. "Think about Mister Stark going Darth Vader on Captain America."

"…" Carol blinked and then began to think about it. Tony going 'I am your father' on Steve… She began to laugh. "Oh my god! How the hell did you come up with it?!"

"Don't know. Seems like I'm cursed to be a dispenser of good jokes and terrible mental images." He said, sitting down in a chair and letting out a moan of satisfaction. "Damn, even the chairs are extra-comfy… I guess money really makes everything better…"

"I guess…" Carol said, observing the fellow blonde crossing his arms behind his head. She needed a laugh, with all that had been transpiring in the past weeks. And the boy seemed to like being a joker. "So, your thoughts on this whole matter?"

"Uh?" Naruto was a bit surprised by that question. They were having such a light conversation… Carol just decided to lean over on the stool in front of which he was sitting. Seems like Tony liked the bar-like atmosphere. But the problem was that she was busty. And the position… Well, let's just say that the change of argument wasn't the only thing on his mind, at the moment. "Ehm… You mean… The whole war?"

"Yes. Since I guess we'll get busier and busier, from now on, I suppose that I should try to get to know better the newest member of my team." She continued, not noticing that she was embarrassing the hell out of the poor Naruto just by staying in that position with her arms on the stool and her leaning forward… Or maybe she knew it. There's got to be a reason why she fights in that outfit. Naruto blushed and turned his head away.

"Well…" He moved his eyes upwards, suddenly finding the ceiling very interesting. "If I didn't agree with Tony's cause, I wouldn't be in your team in the first place, right?"

"Yes. But the thing is, why do you agree?" She continued, raising one hand to adjust her blonde hair, tucking a strand behind her ear. She knew how to look sexy, alright. Naruto groaned.

"As I said…"

"Ah, Naruto. Carol. Welcome back." Naruto sighed in relief. Tony came to save the day. The blonde teen immediately went and hugged the man around the waist.

"Tonyyyyyyy! Help me! Carol was trying to seduce me into spilling the beans about the incestuous relationship between you and Cap!" Tony immediately stiffened at that, and Carol burst out laughing almost immediately.

"I suppose… This is some kind of joke. Since there's so much wrongness in the implication of that sentence…" Tony calmly pushed away the snickering blond from his waist, before sighing. "Whatever. Right now, I want all of you down in the lab. This is a special meeting. The whole team is downstairs."

"Uh?" Naruto blinked. A special meeting? Even Carol had been surprised at that.

--

"Everyone's here?" Asked Reed, noticing Tony coming back to the lab with the last two people they were waiting for. Naruto blinked. The lab was full. He didn't know half of the people inside there, not even by sight.

"Yes. Gentlemen, for those who don't know him, this is Militia." Tony said, putting a hand on Naruto's left shoulder. The blonde just waved weakly to the little crowd in front of him. He noticed Janet winking at him from the back of the group.

"Ah. So you're the person that Reed just couldn't seem to be shutting up about." Naruto blinked when yet another woman came forward and approached him… And he immediately asked himself again what the deal was with girls and superpowers. Did they have super-beauty in series?! He still had to find a single female superhero who wasn't somewhat hot! This one showed him her hand to shake. "I'm Sue Storm Richards. Reed's wife and member of the Fantastic Four. It's nice to meet you."

"Ehm… Same here." Naruto weakly shook the hand back, visibly embarrassed.

"You'll have time to get to know each other later. Now, I guess you're curious about just what you've all been called here for. Hank?" Tony said, moving his head to Yellow Jacket who walked to one of the consoles around in the room and pushed a button. And just like a mad scientist movie, a hole opened in the pavement releasing a lot of white smoke that immediately disappeared. The space under the hole was pressurized, Naruto guessed.

"You see, Militia…" Naruto blinked. Tony was talking to him in barely a whisper. "You must know that on this world aliens are the less strange things you'll see around." Naruto kept on watching at the hole, and at the strange tube that was now raising from the ground. "One of the greatest surprised we have had was when a real god came to earth." The blonde raised an eyebrow at that. A… God? Tony noticed his surprise. "A real god. One of the myths from ages past. A god that was one of the founding members of the original Avengers."

"… A god." Naruto repeated, observing as the tube almost completely rose from the ground. It was filled with a green liquid, and it was dark so he couldn't exactly see what was inside it, but he found a human shape…

"Yes. A friend that some time ago left us. Died. His name was Thor, the warrior god of thunder in the Scandinavian mythology." The tube lightened, and Naruto noticed how a few people in the room gasped. Naruto found himself observing a heavy muscled man with strange clothes, floating around in the green liquid.

"Reed… Is this…" The blonde woman from before, Sue, gasped while slowly approaching the tube and leaning a hand on it.

"Yes. This is a clone, Sue." Murmurs and a few more gasps from the crowd.

"We've managed to clone a god." Naruto blinked at that and moved his head up to look at Tony's smiling face. "Isn't it incredible?"

"… I guess…" Naruto said, shrugging it off. Tony raised an eyebrow at that. He would have expected Naruto to be a bit more excited. "I mean… I still don't really understand the god thing… Is he like, really strong?"

"… Yes, he is." Tony decided to focus on the matter at hand. Explain just why they had decided to do something like this. And why now. He began to address the whole group. "I know that you all have questions. I will try to answer everything. We've been working on this ever since the war started. We thought we would need a bit of overwhelming firepower as soon as possible."

"Especially with what we've planned." Hank interjected. Everyone's attention was on him, now. "We could call it… A trap of some sort."

"A trap?" One of the group said, probably thinking out loud.

"Tony has been authorized by the president to offer Cap and his allies one final amnesty if they turn themselves in and register." Reed continued, pushing a few buttons on the console while talking to the others. "But we need to get them in a situation where they're most likely to accept."

"So, we send them a lure… And we wait for them. They accept or they don't, either way we win and we end this war." Hank continued. Naruto scratched his chin.

"… What kind of lure?" Naruto asked.

"No need to concern yourself with that for now, Militia. Just rest assured that there will be no bystanders." Tony replied with a smile. Naruto 'Hmmm'-ed. The answer didn't satisfy him fully… But he just shrugged his shoulders. He would have to tell him and the others the details sooner or later, after all.

--

"I'm taking a leak… Ahahahah!" Naruto had opted for watching a bit more TV for that morning. It was still Sunday, after all. And he had discovered the wonder that was Dat Phan. I guess they were like a softcore version of Deadpool. All the laughs without the risk of go crazy. "Ehhh… I wonder if Wade really watches this stuff."

"He doesn't have a need for it, I think… Not even I can be certain of everything when it comes to that man. It's… Unsettling."

"Yeah, I guess it… …" Naruto stopped talking. He was supposed to be sitting alone on that couch, after all. He slowly turned his head to the right and found himself face to face with some kind of purple ghost. He found himself jumping out of the couch and screaming in fright… Or at least he tried. He found that no sound came out of his throat.

"We can't have you alerting the whole tower to my presence, can we, young Naruto?" The blonde blinked at those words, before getting back on his feet and observing better the 'ghost' that had decided to visit him.

"Doc… Doctor Strange?" He had seen the man just once and not in this particular form, but it was hard to not recognize him.

"Indeed. Sorry if I startled you." The sorcerer supreme offered Naruto a reassuring smile. The blonde brought a hand behind his head, to scratch.

"Ehm… So, what are you doing here, doc? Trouble? And what have you been doing all this time?" Strange's expression turned to one of seriousness, but he didn't remove his gaze from the blonde shinobi.

"I've preferred to stay neutral in this whole charade, even if I admit to have a certain… Dislike of Tony's crusade." Naruto blinked at that.

"Eh? But wh…" His voice stopped, and Strange gave him and admonishing look. Right, volume. "I mean… Why do you not agree with him? After what has happened in Stamford… After… I…" Naruto brought a hand to his forehead, suddenly feeling a pang of pain. "What… I…" The line of speech had brought him to recall the events in Stamford, his own memories, what he had done for days among the rubble… But… He couldn't reach them? "I can't remember… But…"

"… It seems that miss Frost has decided to not let you be able to recall the memories of those days. A wise decision." Naruto's mouth opened at that, a little gasp making itself heard. "After all… You can't remember, but what do you think you've been doing during those days?"

"Saving survivors, moving rubble and…" Naruto stopped when he suddenly understood. Survivors, rubble… He began to sweat. There had been victims. And where there were victims, there were… Corpses. "I… I probably… …"

"Don't force yourself. I can see that even trying to imagine something like that is hard." Stephen said. Naruto brought a hand to his forehead, trying to soothe the headache that he felt coming. He shook his head to clear his thoughts.

"B-But, I mean, even more! We're trying to make so that nothing like that ever happens again! What is wrong with that?!" Naruto said, finding that Stephen had opted for automatically lowering the tone of his voice.

"… The intent is noble, Naruto. But the end, does it justify the means?" Naruto blinked at that. What did he mean? "You've started to have doubts as well, right? Your meeting with the Young Avengers and the Runaways… Made you think."

"That…" Naruto was surprised that Stephen knew about that, even if he probably shouldn't have. Yes, he had begun to have doubts… He sighed, choosing to be silent. He decided to change the subject of the discussion. "Why are you here?"

"Just to warn you. About the bracelet…" Naruto blinked at that. He held up his arm, suspicious. "You have had it in your possession for a while, and it has protected you well. Anger and other emotions no longer let the demon get a hold of you. But… I suppose that I should warn you about something. Its efficiency depends from the state of your hearth."

"My… Hearth?" Naruto said, a bit confused. He was getting all mystic on him… Well, he WAS the sorcerer supreme.

"Till now no matter the situation or your emotion, you have managed to stay in control of the demon's power. Always because no matter your emotion, your heart was calm and set upon an objective. You had a firm will. But now… Doubt." Naruto began to sweat. "A little doubt is no problem, but… You have started to doubt the cause that you've joined. You've started to doubt yourself. You wonder if you will ever will be able to control efficiently the demon's power. You have doubt about the people you trust because you've started trusting others that you should have not… In theory."

"… What do you mean? That the demon could control me again?" Naruto said. Stephen just kept on looking at him seriously.

"Should the doubt get too big… There's the chance that a big emotional shock could nullify the bracelet's protection for a certain amount of time. In a few minutes you would be back in control, but…"

"Those few minutes could be everything it needs to do something horrible." Naruto said, remembering what had happened to the B.A.D. girls… And that was with just half a tail of power.

"… In case that should happen, do not worry. I will be there to help. Even if it will be in a way other than personal intervention." Naruto blinked at that. More enigmas. Stephen gave him a small smile. "But as it is said… Better safe than sorry, right?"

"…" Naruto stared and observed as the sorcerer supreme faded out in thin air. He stared at the empty spot for a few seconds before slumping on the couch again. Just freaking-tastic. _Doubt, hn?_ "… I really hope I've chosen the right side, here…"

--

"I sense much turboil in yourself, Stephen…" Doc Strange had 'returned' to his seclusion spot, where he had only the company of Uatu, the Watcher.

"That's because the temptation to just end all of this is great, Uatu. Too many variables, so many things that can go wrong… I have to remind myself to not interfere every instant." In reality, he had just projected his astral form, to talk with Naruto. He hadn't moved from the north pole. "I just hope that my companions do not commit any irreparable deeds."

--

_10:00 AM_

"Hmmm…" Naruto was currently going through the task of memorizing the various assets of superpowers and skills of the 'superpowered individuals' he was going to face. All the info Tony had on Cap's group, and it was a kind of read that he liked. He mostly became easily bored of reading something, the longer the worse, but he guessed that discovering page by page what kind of 'degree in awesome' people possessed, as he had dubbed having a superpower as, was slightly more interesting than what he studied in the academy back in the day. He was currently using three Kage Bunshin to help him study. "Then we have Dagger… Cloak's partner, and her power is… Living Light Manipulation? What the…"

"She takes light and turns it into solid shapes. Usually Daggers." The Naruto all raised their right hands and waved to say 'Hi' and at the same time thank the newcomer. "So, how's your studying going?"

"Pretty steady, Carol. Thanks for the concern." Naruto said, before making his Kage Bunshin disappear and get on his feet. He had deserved a break, and it seemed like Ms Marvel had been thoughtful enough to bring him a nice cup of tea. "So… Today is the day."

"Seems like it. Hope we can turn this around before anyone else gets seriously hurt." The blonde woman handed Naruto his cup and then sat in a nearby chair. She was in 'civilian clothes', having come back from a patrol a few minutes before. Naruto decided that a joke was in order.

"Don't you have a house or something, you free-loader?" She chuckled at his antics.

"Looks who's talking. You just changed the place from the Xavier's to Avengers Tower." She replied and Naruto couldn't do anything but raise his hands up, admitting defeat. Guilty as charged. Carol noticed, though, that the spiky haired boy wasn't his usual cheerful mood. Little did she know that the last night's conversation with Doc Strange weighted heavily on his mind. "Hey, what's wrong?"

"… Having some doubts, that's all. It happens to Tony, it happens to everyone, I suppose." Naruto offered a wink and a smile, but that really wasn't his style, so Carol understood that there was something else. "… I just… If the offer of amnesty doesn't well, it will be a huge fight, right? I… Well, I just wouldn't like to be the one losing control and doing something bad…"

"… Did it happen before?" Carol continued, earning a nod from Naruto.

"Once. It was the incident that brought me here, actually. I lost control and I suppose that I got sent here as a safe-measure or something… Point is, I didn't remember what I could do, what I did in those few minutes, but now thanks to some X-Students I know…" Naruto's mind went mostly to how he had almost killed Orochimaru. He was pretty sure that the guy could have given most of the superheroes he knew a run for their money, and yet he had almost killed him. The crater he had done with the same attack he had used to injure Nimrod had been particularly impressive. "If it gets down to fighting it will be the biggest battle I will have ever been into. What if I lose control? If I mess this up more than it already is?"

"We work in a team for a reason, Naruto. We watch each other's back, you know." Carol said with a smile before putting a hand on his right shoulder. "It will all work out."

"… Apart the Sentry, how many guys who can create craters the size of the Tokyo Dome do we have on the team? Because that's the kind of help you will need if I lose control." Carol was a bit taken back by that. "Oh, well. Doctor Strange gave me this to keep the thing in control, but I guess I became a worry-worth ever since coming here."

"Ehm… Right." Carol decided that a change of subject was in order. "Did you see Jennifer, by the way?"

"The green chick, right? She-Hulk. She passed by earlier, had to talk with Tony about something. Lawier things…"

--

Women take especially good care of their hair but men are no strangers to this either, especially if one has Robbie Baldwin's hair. Long, blonde, curly locks. Now completely gone. Customary in jails, I suppose. People get in, they get an hair-cut, or something. The hair weren't the only change in his appearance. He was sporting a few good bruises, most of them on his face. Only difference from the last time Jennifer saw him was that the large patch on his left arm, put there to cover up the sign of a bite, was gone. The side-effects of being thrown into a normal prison while being the only surviving member of the team who purposely caused the Stamford incident.

"I've talked with agent Marshal, Robbie." Jennifer had taken upon herself the difficult task of being Robbie's lawyer. The first course of action was going to take him out of there. Without his powers in a common prison, he was a walking piece of dead meat. "He's spoken with local and state officials and they're prepared to come to an arrangement. Everyone can come out of this with minimal damage. All I'm asking you to do is keep an open mind."

The currently green-skinned woman let a big yellow envelope fall on the table on which Robbie was leaning his stretched, handcuffed arms. The member of the New Warriors observed it carefully. "It's an offer from the governor. You agree to register with the authorities as a costumed hero, and you get three years' community service doing what you would have done anyway…"

"Wait… This is an admission of guilt?" The fact that he was going to do community service meant that he would have been condemned for something. Jennifer sighed, since she had foretold this was going to come. She sat at the opposite side of the table.

"It's a compromise. They're asking you to work in an advisory capacity to help track unregistered combatants. In return, they take that designation away from you."

"But they want me to register." Robbie stated.

"It's just a slap on the wrist, Robbie." Jennifer offered Robbie her pen. Speedball thought about the 'slap on the wrist'. The whole registration act thing had got out from the fact that superheroes needed to be controlled, to not let irresponsible ones like the New Warriors let Stamford happen again.

"If I register, I'm saying we were out of control. I'm saying it was our fault." Robbie had a few things left now. One of those things was his honour and the honour of his dead friends.

"The offer's on the table, Robbie." Jennifer stated, cutting him off sharply. "It's the best one you're ever going to get."

"…" Robbie stared at her, the papers and the pen for a while, before slowly lowering his head and his gaze. "Tell them I'll sign…"

"Good. Listen, I know it stinks, but it's truly the way forward…"

"Tell them I'll sign the day hell freezes over." To freeze that place one would need at least the level of cold one could see in that moment in Robbie's eyes.

--

"Ah… Oh, and what is it with you and Deadpool? You guys seem pretty friendly."

"Call me crazy, but he's one of the guys I get along with the most. Even if he's crazy. Maybe it's because of that."

--

_It is time to kick some spandex tushy! Whadda we got here…_ Crazy was an euphemism. Ulterior proof was brought by Deadpool's latest course of action. _Captain America. Okay, I salute you, super-soldier. Will pummel you with great regret._ He had decided to put to good use the information he and Naruto had gotten from Cable and Cap's roof-talk that night, following Daredevil around. _Falcon talks to a bird and glides like a ballerina. No qualms about battering him._

He had followed him from his home to an abandoned warehouse which, like had guessed, was some kind of hidden headquarters for Cap's team. _Goliath. He's a scientist guy. Used to actually call himself Black Goliath, thank you for that tip. Deserves death and worse._ Instead of calling for immediate back-up, though… _Daredevil. Pyjama-boy annoyance. Can't hurt me, can avoid pain. A nuisance._ Feeling pumped by the fact from the announcement of his own movie and also to stay close to the canon version of this scene… _Hercules. Freakin' Olympian demigod. For real. Daddy Zeus had a thing for human chicks back in the day. He might be a challenge._ He decided to go inside and try to take them all down by himself. Staring with the people he just described. _Okay. Yeah. I can do this!_ The worst thing is that while he thinks everything he has thought went into first person narrative, he had actually said everything out loud.

"Who's this guy? He's fast!" Deadpool jumped over Cap's shield to deliver a strong kick to one of Goliath's knees while the black-skinned man expressed appreciation about his skills. Right after he jumped back and then rolled away, between Hercules' legs.

"What manner of cowardice is this?" I will spare you Deadpool's comments about his 'godly endowments'. "Oh." I will just let you know that the kick in Goliath's knee was so that he would lose balance and fall over Hercules. Demigod or not, a couple of hundreds of kilos falling on top of you like that is doomed to hurt you.

"A falcon's a tough bird, right? You're not like a finch or a titmouse, right?" Deadpool jumped and rolled, dodging Falcon's aerial assault. "Heh. Titmouse. That cracks me up." He spent no time wondering just how the hell Falcon could fly so fast and without smashing into walls in a relatively small, open space like that warehouse. He just loaded his gun. "Hey, lookin' a little wobbly there, birdie. Must be out of practice. Better sleep it off." He stood back up in a flash and fired three shots at Falcon's unprotected back.

"You shot him?!" Daredevil immediately was on his neck with his baton, fearing for his companion's life.

"Ow. Just a tranq dart. No one wants you guys dead." Deadpool replied, but then he decided to correct himself. "Well, personally, I don't give a fig, but I mean no one that matters." If Daredevil's blow had pushed him forward, Cap's shield impacting his jaw threw his head back with the whole body. "Ow again." Before Daredevil could strike at him again, Deadpool crouched down, took a hold of one of his sheathed swords and swung it around, knocking the red-clad superhero off his feet. "Now, stay out of this so I can square off for the match that might actually increase my sales! Well, they did increase. This issue is from my old series. My actual one is doing really great."

Deadpool slowly got back on his feet, while Cap's shield returned swiftly to his owner's left hand. "Two super-soldiers, poised for battle! A wary, controlled tension crackles between them like an electric impulse. Each looking for a feint, a subtle tell that will give them their first opportunity to strike. Two warriors, respectful, yet…"

"Silence, you prattling mortal sack of inanity!" Both Cap and Deadpool were surprised by the sudden interruption by Hercules, who was currently rushing at the latter of the two customed people. "Prepare thyself for… THE GIFT!"

"Eep! Please let it be a gift certificate to Victoria's secret…" Deadpool took courage with two hands and strangled him to death, he then hid behind Cap's back, much to the demigod's annoyance.

"Captain, allow me to grind this miscreant into paste." Hercules said, grinding his teeth in anger. Cap, noble as he was, had to object.

"Hercules, please… Calm yourself. Deadpool is only doing what's expected of him. We knew this was coming."

"Yeah! I'm an innocent pawn in a greater game! I know which side I'm on! Whatever side isn't going to kick my butt in!" Deadpool got along with Cap's plan… For a few seconds. He put his arm with the gun over Cap's right shoulder, pointing it at Hercules. "Hah! Lulled ya! By the curly hairs of Zeus I shall smite thee!"

He opened fire on Hercules' face, earning a sigh from Captain America. "Deadpool… Please… You're only going to annoy him. More." The tranq darts hit home all over Hercules' face, not knocking him out, and thus, like Cap foretold, just annoying him.

"All king's courts suffer the banter of the jester, but I admit, my patience for such antics was always very thin."

"Wow. That's a newsflash." Deadpool lowered himself down and shot at Cap's back, only for the man to put his shield in the way without even looking. "Drat." Nobody could stop him to keep on trying, though.

"What should we do with him?" Cap asked someone who was currently hiding in the dark, a flash of blue the only thing giving him away.

"Hercules can hit him a few times. Deadpool has a healing factor." The blue light enveloped the full figure of the newcomer, hovering just above the ground, a very familiar figure to Wade. "He'll recover. Eventually."

_Nathan Dayspring Askani'son Geshundheit. Cable. Soldier from the future to save the world from its own, and his own, insanity._ Deadpool thought/said out loud, getting back on his feet to face one of his best pals, maybe his best pal in the world.

"Looks like we're on different sides of the fence here. I'll double whatever the commission on superhuman activities is paying you." Cable offered.

"My principles cannot be bought!" Deadpool replied.

"And I'll give you a bigger badge." Cable offered.

"Ohhh… Can't/must conflict…" Deadpool had an inner fight for a while, before opening fire on Cable. "No! No! Not even for a bigger badge could I betray my Uncle Sam!" Too bad that Cable had a gravimetric field. In few words, it's a technologic version of telekinesis. The many tranq darts bounced back and hit Deadpool in the face. "Wow." Unlike Hercules, Deadpool is a demigod. Tranquilizer darts have a certain degree of effect on him. "I'm feelin' reeeeeeally good right now…" He fell to the ground with a loud thump, unconscious.

"He has an enhanced healing factor, right? How long will that keep him out?" Cap asked, while Cable turned off his gravimetric field and landed gracefully to the ground.

"Not nearly long enough." Cable said, observing the unconscious figure of the red-masked mercenary.

"What do you recommend we do with him?" Cap said, earning a smile from Cable.

"Duct tape. Lots and lots of duct tape." He said, before immediately correcting himself. "At least one roll for his mouth alone." He was like the Michelin mascot, only with duct tape and not moving.

--

"Hmmm… Well, I guess I studied enough. Time to dismiss my dupes… Damn, I'm staring to talk like Jamie Madrox." Naruto did a single handseal and all his clones disappeared in puffs of smoke, he closed his eyes and brought a hand to his head as the information feed-back struck him like a truck. "Woah! Damn, that's a lot of information!"

"Be careful. I've heard of something like that happening before. Too much information to your head, you go out like a light for a few hours." Carol said, getting up from her seat. "I was thinking of having lunch with the others in a few minutes and then get a nap. We're going to have to be at our best, today."

"… Yeah. I guess so…" Naruto was probably the most energetic guy on the team in that moment, but he really felt like taking a nap, for a reason… Then, he suddenly began to go through the memories of one of his clones who had disappeared while he was listening in on one of Tony's calls. He had gone to him to ask about a term that he didn't understand, but then he had stopped in front of his office's door when he had heard him calling. It was a call that he was having with a certain 'Baron Zemo', to enlist the help of a certain 'Atlas' in the battle of the day, and at the same time he had asked him some news about their 'recruitment agreeement'. "…" He had some more research to do, it seemed.

--

_Time: 6:00 PM_

"Alright, 'Thor'. Come this way." It was finally time. The whole team was outfitted and now aboard a S.H.I.E.L.D. helicarrier, making the final preparations. Hank was helping their Thor clone on a helicopter while Reed and Tony were debriefing the superheroes assembled for the occasion.

"…" Naruto had done his research, so, when he saw the Thunderbolts, alas ex-criminals trying to be superheroes, he wasn't surprised by their being there. What he still didn't understand was the 'recruitment' part of the talk Tony had had with Baron Zemo. _I guess he means recruiting new additions to the team. But why keep it a secret from me and most of the others, then? Because I know that at least Reed and Hank knew about it._

"We will start the fire at 7:00 PM. It will take at least half an hour of burning to make it believable. We will let intel about it go out at 7:30. We will stay cloaked till Cap's team arrives on the place." Tony explained, with the help of the holographic display behind his back. "We will stay cloaked till the cape-killers squads take down their teleporters with tranquilizers. We're talking about Cloak and Wiccan."

"Wiccan? From the Young Avengers?" Naruto just couldn't resist, hearing that they were planning to sneak attack one of his newest friends first. Tony's attention was on him. He replied with a nod.

"Exactly. After that, we get uncloaked and from there, let me do the talking. I will try to persuade them and offer them this final amnesty." Tony said, before letting a few seconds pass for the others to take in everything. "If that doesn't work…"

"We will have to get physical." Peter finished, sighing. He really hoped they would accept, because he had no doubts that it would get bloody.

"Now, a bit of advice for the battle. I know many of you are used to being the underdog and still come out of the fight victorious. Many of us have done that at least once, more many times over." Saying that Tony sent a look towards Peter. The Spider-Man grumbled a little. "But this time, try to engage just people in your power-league. We want this over as soon as possible. Any questions?"

"…" Naruto had had a hunch that it would have been better to wait when the debriefing was over to talk to Tony, to not 'challenge his leadership', but he had a hunch that it was a matter that needed to be addressed as soon as possible. He raised his hand.

"Militia." Tony acknowledged his want to raise a question.

"Iron-Man…" Tony had told them before-hand to use just code-names when on mission. "I mean, I have this little doubt… Will not take down two of his men and effectively cut off their only means of getting away basically kill off every chance of talking our way out of this?"

"… A good point. The thing is, there's the chance that they wouldn't want to listen, Militia, being a trap and all. This is just a precaution." Tony replied, but Naruto didn't seem convinced at all.

"Nope. From how I see it, this is a way to force them to listen." Naruto sighed, scratching the back of his head. "I just mean, I'm still with you, but in my opinion we're in for a fight with 100% of the probability."

"… I think you're underestimating Cap's sense of honour, Militia." Tony concluded, before turning to the others for any other questions.

"…" _Somehow, I have a feeling he doesn't believe this will end with just talking himself._

--

_Time: 7:30 PM_

"Are you well, Captain? You seem a little quiet."

"Just thinking about an appointment I had ten minutes ago with a kid from the 'Make a wish foundation'." It was quite a sight. Four heroes having dinner in a normal civilian establishment, wearing normal clothes to appear normal, but with Hercules' physique they were really pushing it, especially since his new secret identity was supposed to be 'Victor Tegler, I.T. consultant for a major international finance corporation'. What kind of wiz kid has biceps of thirty centimetres of diameter? "I told him we'd play baseball in his backyard for a while, but the place is probably crawling with cape-killers." Even Steve Rogers sometimes had to let go of his frustration and anger, in his own style, of course. "It's the little things they've stolen from us with this registration garbage. The little things that make us who we are."

Suddenly, Goliath's cellphone signalled that a text message had just reached home. Daredevil decided to inquire the black skinned hero fist. "S'up?"

"Petrochemical plant on fire over by the Hudson. Base said there's three or four hundred trapped inside and they're sending Cloak and Dagger to teleport us down." Goliath said, adjusting his glasses instinctively. Three or four hundred civilians trapped inside a petrochemical plant on fire? Cap was back on his feet in three seconds, already handing to the waitress some money.

"Keep the change, ma'am. And thanks for a wonderful meal." In a few seconds they were out of the place and in an alley, taking their clothes off while running. A smirk came to Goliath's face.

"Emergency distress calls, sneaking into alleyways and changing into costume… I hate to say this, but I'm kinda starting to enjoy this." Old school style superheroing. What's not to love?

--

In the meanwhile in New York's Presbiterian Hospital, two nurses were having a very common discussion, in those times.

"No, I don't think it's cool Cap's still fighting super-crime. What'd be cool is if he stopped breaking the law."

"Well, I bet the people they rescued from that hijacked plane are glad Cap's Secret Avengers are still around, Darlene."

"Oh my god!" While another one was about to have an heart attack, seeing a blonde man with his head bandaged up and walking with crutches uneasily walking down the hall of the hospital. God bless the Hippocrates' oath. "What are you doing out of bed, mister Storm? You're supposed to be asleep!" Guess that his 'heated up' metabolism helped a faster recovery.

"Does anyone know where my sister went?"

--

_Time: 07:40 PM, Geffen-Meyer Chemicals_

"Something wrong, Ms Storm?"

"Oh? Ah, no. I'm just thinking about my brother." She had been a bit surprised, being called with her maiden name.

"He was… Hospitalized, right? After being mobbed…" Not that the most tactful way Naruto could have described the situation by, but it worked.

"Yeah… And you know something?" Susan said, with Naruto listening to her while keeping his eyes on the flaming scenery around them. "I think that when he wakes up, he will fight the SRA. He will join Cap's side."

"…" In the last hour Naruto had tried to keep himself entertained, distracted, by talking with someone, anyone, but in the end his thoughts always came down to the war and most importantly the battle they were about to have. He was sure they were going to fight. He just felt it.

"Massive mystical energy fluctuation. It's Cloak." Tony suddenly announced.

"They're coming, people." Peter said, and Naruto's eyes were now focused on the middle of the field in front of them. Suddenly, a bright blue light appeared in the middle of the field, filled with dark shapes. The light died down, the shapes remained. Naruto stiffened when he saw that the Young Avengers were among them.

"Be ready to take down the teleporters." Tony said, sending the communication to the teams of cape killers stationed all around the plant and over them.

"How many workers did the radio say?"

"Three or four hundred, but there's something weird going on here, captain." Cable said, while he checked his 'Info-Net' for information about the situation they had there, but there was nothing of use. "I'm getting nothing over my Info-Net connection in terms of panic signals or…" Cable suddenly stopped talking.

"What's wrong, Cable?" Luke Cage said, noticing the mutant's sudden uneasiness. Cable's attention had got caught from a plate on which he had just stepped. The plate read: 'Geffen-Meyers, a division of Stark industries'. His eyes widened.

"Get the hell out of here, boys! It's a trap!" But before anyone could do anything, a volley of tranquilizer darts fell and hit both the team's teleporters.

"Cloak! Wiccan!" Cap called out in worry before realizing what kind of projectiles had hit them. Naruto looked away, grinding his teeth in anger, while Tony deactivated their cloaking.

"Of course it's a trap. How else were we going to get you all in one place?" Tony declared, as his whole team was now visible, including Naruto. He followed with his eyes as Hulkling rushed to Wiccan's side, kneeling beside him.

"What the hell have they done to them, Cap?! They're out cold!" The shape-shifter said in worry.

"Just a little tranquilizer to make sure no one gets away, kiddo." Peter said, this time the voice came from Cap's back. They had surrounded them. On land… "Sky-bird one, you got these guys in your sights?"

--

And on air, if the helicopters hovering all over them were any indications. They were still cloaked, though. "Ready when you are, Spider-Man. Just give the word."

--

And of course, the S.H.I.E.L.D. helicarrier. "Maria Hill to all airborne agents: you are only there in a support capacity. Hold your fire and await further orders."

--

"Your paymasters going soft, Tony?" Cap said sarcastically as Iron-Man approached him slowly. The two men were now staring at each other.

"We didn't come here to arrest you, Cap. I talked S.H.I.E.L.D. into offering you one final amnesty." Tony replied. Steven returned deadly serious.

"You mean a surrender?" He had to resist scoffing at that. "Thanks, but I think I'd rather take my chances."

"Aw, c'mon. The only people who win when we're fighting each other are the bad guys, big man." Tony had told his team that he wanted to be the one doing the talking, but Spider-Man hadn't shut up in front of the USA congress. "This goes against every principle you ever believed in."

"Don't talk to me about principles, Spider-Man." Cap turned his head around to stare poor Peter down as he replied with a very harsh voice. "I saw that little stunt you pulled on tv. Is Mary Jane happy about the sandman having her zip code now?"

"Cap, please. I know you're angry." Tony opened his mask, raising the part covering his face. "I know it's an enormous change from the way we've always worked, but we aren't living in nineteen forty-five anymore. The public doesn't want masks and secret identities. They want to feel safe when we're around, and there's no other way to win their respect."

"…" Naruto kept on observing the scene in front of him, waiting for the moment when everything was going down to hell. It was going down to hell, if Cap's hard stare was any indication.

"You've known me half my adult life, Cap. You know I wouldn't do this unless I believed in it with all my heart. We don't want to fight you." Tony extended his arm to Steven, his armor-clad hand open to meet his own one. "Just give me the chance to tell you our plans for my twenty-first century overhaul."

Tony had stopped talking and Steven had began to look around. He first stared at Tony's stretched arm, and then above them, where the helicopters had dropped their cloaking. He took his decision in a few seconds. He held out his right arm and hand and shook Tony's one. "You've got five minutes."

"Five minutes is all I need…" Tony said, with a smile. Naruto heard many people sigh in relief, including Susan Storm. Peter, who he was standing near to was literally cheering.

"All right! Way to go, wing-tips! Didn't I say this was all gonna work out fine?" Spider-Man said, but Naruto… Naruto knew better. It was just a hunch…

"What the hell?" A hunch that got proven true once Tony noticed that something had been attached to his hand from Cap's own one. "Aaaaaagh!" And he then screamed in pain as he got electrocuted, his armor out of order for the moment.

"It's a S.H.I.E.L.D. electron-scrambler. Developed by Nick Fury's tech team in case you ever went to the other side." Cap explained, as behind him Goliath grew to gigantic proportions. Naruto crouched down, while Cap continued by slamming the side of his shield on Tony's armored jaw. "You shouldn't have taken down two of my boys, Tony."

"Damn! I hate to say this, but I freaking told you!" Naruto jumped out of the way along with Spider-Man just as Goliath swept his arms around, sending flying those that didn't react fast enough. The battle was on.

--

_The no-turning back point. The biggest battle hero VS hero ever… And I'm stuck here inside a mountain of duct tape. And on top of that… _"NG RRFFA HRRFFA PYUH!" _I REALLY HAVE TO PEE!_

--

When he had landed, hell had already broke out. Who could grow, had grown. Yellow-Jacket vs Goliath, Stature vs Atlas. Each one had chose his opponent and threw himself at him/her. He had still to make that choice, but someone had made it for him, it seemed. That's all he could think of as a right hook crushed his jaw. "Ngh!" The strength of the blow made him fly into one of the nearby metal constructions, making him leave a human shaped dent into it. "What… The hell…"

"You're the kid who took out the Young Avengers all on his own, right?" Naruto held his throbbing head while his vision cleared, revealing the truck that had got him. The truck was shaped as a bald, black skinned superhero wearing rather normal clothes. He went through his memories… Luke Cage. "It was quite a fit, I tell ya. You quite impressed Cap. So much, he personally asked me to kick your ass."

"… Oh, hell." _Well played, Cap. Well played._ Naruto immediately felt screwed as he got out of the way to dodge another heavy hit courtesy of 'Power Man'. The man in question was one senior superhero. One of the oldest active ones on the streets, lot of experience under his belt. Trained in martial arts at some point with a certain 'Iron Fist'. Then, it came to the powers. Superhuman durability and resistance to damage and almost unbreakable skin. A bitch when he needs to be cut up for surgery, but in fight, no better defence. Naruto immediately turned on three bracelets of power and unleashed a vicious right hook himself to the man's face, using all his strength. He felt his bones crash in his hands as he somersaulted away. Luke Cage brought a hand to the hit point.

"Hmm… Not bad at all, but you've got to do better than this, you know. At least with me." Naruto cursed as his hand began to heal. Cap knew what he had done when he had asked Cage to get him himself. Naruto had attacks able to injure Cage. The Rasengan could do the trick, since it basically bypassed physical most defences and attacked one's insides, but there was the chance that he could kill him. The Kyuubi cannon was also a no, and he was sure that if he went four tails he would end like against Noh-Varr. Slow, sluggish and a punching ball. He dodged another punch just to receive a knee to the gut, and then an uppercut. He fell on his back a few meters behind. "What's wrong? Not going to use those knives?"

"… You noticed?" Right. His knives. The one Tony had given him with his uniform. He slowly got back on his feet.

"You know, I've heard that they're made of a nice material… You could maybe injure me with those. Maybe seriously." Cage continued, silently observing Naruto getting back on his feet.

"… And that's exactly the reason why I won't use them. I don't know the outcome. Too many incognita. I don't want to kill anyone." Naruto raised his arm and unleashed a full powered blast of his energy weapon at his opponent, surprising him for the swiftness of the move. The blast hit him straight in the chest, creating a large explosion and lots of smoke. "… Just as I thought." When the smoke cleared, the black shirt of the man was basically destroyed, but he wasn't much scathed. Just what you would expect from someone who can jump down from skyscrapers and land barefooted without even a scratch.

"Nice other trick you got there, but it's not enough, it seems. So, I guess it's time to put your lights out. You could make trouble for some of the others." Luke cracked his neck and approached Naruto in a flash as the blonde teen swallowed, and dropped into a guard chance, replenishing his whole body of red chakra. The black hero found Naruto dodging successfully his right straight by dropping his body and then the blonde grabbed him by the ankles. "What…"

"Seems I can't fight you… So." Luke's eyes widened as Naruto got back on his feet and started spinning on his heels, raising his whole body up as he did. "Go find someone who can be a better match to you!" He said, and then finally letting go of Cage and sending him flying into the nearby fray of superheroes. He let go of him and sighed in relief while turning off the three bracelets. "Alright… What or better, who, now… Ahhh!"

"First rule in an all out battle: never distract yourself." The feminine voice was familiar, even if his attention was mostly focused on the arrow that had just went through his left shoulder, which now felt really numb, along with his whole right arm. He turned around to be met with the visage of Hawkeye.

"Hey! That hurt! And why the hell can't I feel my right arm anymore?!" Naruto said while pulling the arrow out. The girl smirked.

"Trick arrow. Last time I noticed your left hand went to your right wrist a lot. Liked it? I've got more." Indeed she had. She pulled out another arrow from her quiver and threw it at Naruto, who dodged out of the way just in time. This one was a bomb arrow if the explosion behind him was any indication. He dove behind a series of metallic ledges.

_With my left arm like this I can't use the Kyuubi's chakra nor I can use any techniques…_ "Damn, you're good!" Naruto said while dodging by a hair breath another arrow that the girl had managed to make bounce off a ledge and towards his right tight.

"Thanks. By the way, the B.A.D. Girls say, respectively: 'Thanks for not turning us in', 'Those pants sure are tight' and 'Do you fancy dinner in an year or so?'." Hawkeye run after Naruto and then let loose another arrow, but this time it wasn't aimed at him. Another trick one. Naruto's vision was suddenly enveloped by smoke.

"Cough!" Naruto was distracted long enough for the girl to throw three normal arrows at him, at the same time. The projectiles pierced him in the right shoulder, in the right biceps and in the right forearm. "Ghk! I guess those googles/glasses whatever aren't just for show…" Naruto ducked out of the way and behind a tall wall of steel, now unable to pull any arrows out of his body as well.

"You can regenerate, so I know you will not die. A few more arrows and I can immobilize you for good." Hawkeye moved out of the way of a loose attack from Ms Marvel while thinking of the next arrow to use to continue the fight.

--

_Spider-Man_

"Yow. Careful, Cap. You could take a guy's eye out with that thing…" Spider-Man gracefully jumped high and dodged a Shield's throw, courtesy of Captain America, then began to display how the 'Iron-Spider' costume's appendages were pretty useful tools. "Like these poor schmucks, for instance." He grabbed the shield in mid-air and used the spider-legs to hit both Daredevil and the Vision at the same time. After that, shield still in his possession, he jumped to one side and disappeared in the middle of a burning fire, startling Patriot greatly.

"I don't understand. Where'd he go?" He said, as he and Cap stood back to back.

"Spider-Man's wearing a new suit Stark designed, Patriot." Cap replied with his usual calm, looking around with his eyes, carefully, attentive. "Bullet-proof, glide-function and stealth-mode…"

"Not to mention that 'butt-kicking' button." Not attentive enough, though. Spider-Man appeared right in front of him, slamming the Shield under his jaw. Steve was quick to counterattack efficiently, though. With one hand he swapped the shield out of Spider-Man's clutches, sending it flying away, then he proceeded to throw a right straight at his opponent's face, which he managed to parry.

--

_Iron-Man_

The device Cap had hidden in his hand had done one hell of a job on his armor. It had shut him down almost completely. Almost. Fortunately, it was an old device, that Nick Fury had probably developed with data collected from an older version of his armor, and as such had not reached its intent.

"Armor, reroute primary power systems and reboot." Tony said, and he felt those electric sounds that signalled to him that his armor was responding well.

_Rerouting._ The armor started to shut down and re-activate all its primary systems, basically turning on the armor again, but free of the electrical scrambling. _Reboot._ The Iron-Man started to hover at mid-air again, and his eyes and his sensor immediately started searching for the intended target. Bring down the general, bring down the army.

--

_Naruto_

"… Still numb." Naruto had just seen Hawkeye a loose blow from Ms Marvel, giving him a few seconds to think about his situation. He thought that he could have had problems with the power-houses in that battle, but it seemed that skill was as important as power. So, since he had been cut off from most of his power, he would have to rely heavily on his skill. _Time to stop acting like a superhero, and to start acting like a ninja. With my arms in this situation, all I can do is basic chakra manipulation._

"Alright. I guess I can use one knockout gas arrow and then pin-cushion you later." Hawkeye took aim, about to let loose an arrow that would bounce and explode just in front of Naruto, when an orange blur suddenly got out from behind the metallic construction. "… Fast."

"Alright. Ninja-jumping is still effective." Naruto landed on a metallic ledge a few meters behind the super-heroine, before jumping again towards her, only to find her aiming another trick arrow straight at him.

"Best kind of target." She said before letting go of the projectile, which travelled for Naruto's abdomen, but the projectile never hit home. Hawkeye's eyes widened as the arrow suddenly deviated from its path just before hitting Naruto. "What the… I missed?!"

"Cloud of chakra. Good thing I managed to make Neji talkative." Naruto silently made a memorandum of thanking Neji for telling him about his fight with the spider-guy. In the end, he successfully homed in on his opponent, and delivered a strong kick to her abdomen.

"Ghk!" The girl stood still for a moment before rocketing back against a concrete wall, slamming into it. Naruto skidded on the ground unsteadily and then stopped after a few meters, just as his left arm started to tickle in various places.

"Hmm… Seems like I can use it again… Right?" Naruto slowly moved up his arm, ignoring how fastidious the feeling of the still half-asleep appendage felt, and pulled out the arrow in his right shoulder, then the other two, subsiding a grunt of pain with each weapon he pulled out. "Ow. I hope it heals soon enough… Ah."

In a flash, he was beside the groaning form of Hawkeye, checking on her health condition. She was still conscious, but she was bleeding from a cut on her head. "Damn, that's a lot of blood! I overdid it! Hold still!"

"… What… The hell… Are you doing?" Kate opened her eyes to see Naruto opening a pocket on his belt and pulling out something. Bandages and other medical things. It was a first aid kit.

"What does it look like? Patching you up." Naruto replied while tending to Kate's injuries, his mind going through what he had learned about first aid before going to Stamford.

"… You…" Kate had noticed something that really didn't add up. "You have a healing factor but you carry around a first aid kit?" The explanation came to her immediately, but it was so absurd. She had seen how a goody little two shoes he was last time they met, but this was really pushing it. "Don't tell me…"

"Yep. It's not for me, is for people I bash up. A little precaution after what happened with the B.A.D. Girls." Kate resisted the urge to palm her forehead, mostly because he was bandaging it. A strong tug told her he was finished. "There. Like new… Well, mostly. I stopped the blood with some of that liquid, but I guess you still feel it throbbing."

"… You're completely nuts." Kate said out loud, shaking her head and accepting his help to get back on her feet.

"Maybe. So, what now? You can either surrender or you can take another shot at me. Then I patch you up again and we repeat the sequence till you surrender or pass out." He said with a grin. Kate rolled her eyes and her hands went to her bow almost immediately.

"What do you think I'll do, smart guy?" Naruto smirked. He liked having a good challenge, for once. He bounced back as his injuries healed immediately, and dropped into a fighting stance. That's when he heard that loud noise. Both he and Kate turned around. Naruto turned on the magnification of his goggles, and that's how he saw Iron-Man slamming Captain America through a wall.

--

_Captain America_

Spider-Man was a really dangerous opponent. He was one of the most dangerous opponents that Cap could face on that field. His powers were just part of it. You had to add to it his intelligence, his instincts, his ability to improvise. Those were the abilities that had made him survive and win against opponents of much greater power than him over and over again. He took down Magneto once.

Cap himself could have had trouble with him if he let him set the pace of the battle, a battle spider against man. That's why Cap managed to force him into close combat, where he was sure to triumph over the scarlet-clad hero. The mean uppercut he managed to land on Peter's jaw was a clear indication.

"Captain! Beware!" Beware is 'watch out' in Olympian, he guessed, but he had no time to react to Hercules' warning. Two armored fists slammed into his back and he slammed full force into the wall in front of him, face first. He rolled on the ground, onto the debris, shaken and woozy from the impact's strength as he slowly raised his head to look at the hovering form of Iron-Man.

"Ngh!" No shield. Just his fists. He recovered and attacked Tony, who had dropped to the ground to offer him a fair fight, or so he thought. The Iron-Man dodged the punch with large anticipation and hammered him into his right side.

"You're wasting your time, Steve…" Tony powered up his armor to the max, as he hit Steve on the jaw with a right hook. "This armor has recorded every punch you've ever thrown." Follow up with a left hook, still to the jaw. Hit there enough, you unbalance your opponent. "It knows your next move before you do…" Right hook, with all the strength that the cybernetic armor could grant him, and that was a lot. Captain America spit out blood, as the power of the blow and the friction blew to bits his costume as well. Tony though, didn't stop there. His armor had gone into automatic, and with a brutal display it kept on hitting Cap, not focusing on his jaw anymore, waiting for the man to drop to the ground.

"Out of my way, filthy traitors! He's killing him, in there!" Doc Samson had taken upon himself the task of fighting the prince of power, Hercules, being the only one with enough physical strength to do so. He had received his powers thanks to an experiment with gamma radiation. The longer his hair, the stronger he becomes, but not even he could stand up to an enraged demigod. "Hold on, Captain! I'm coming!" Same with She-Hulk and Spider-Man, who got swatted away like a fly with one blow from the Olympian.

--

_Naruto_

"… This…" Naruto could only watch in horror as Tony kept on brutalizing Cap. It wasn't a fight, it was a slaughter. Cap didn't stand a chance if his armor really could read and anticipate his every move, a similarity to Sasuke's sharingan that really ticked him off, but nonetheless Tony wasn't holding back anything. With each blow he was afraid to see more than just bits of Cap's costume fly off. "This is wrong!" Naruto tried to start a communication with Tony. "Tony! What the hell are you doing?! Hey! Answer me!" Nothing. He seemed to have cut off that function, or he was just ignoring him. "Darn it…" Naruto suddenly took off and headed straight for the main part of the fight.

"H-Hey!" Completely forgetting about Kate, who went after him right after.

--

_S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier_

"Five hundred more cape-killers units surrounding the perimeter, commander." Hercules' sudden rampage had worried the ones who were just observing the fight. "Awaiting further orders."

"Hold them on standby." Maria Hill declared, knowing well what needed to be done. "'Codename Lightning' has first pass at this…"

An helicopter opened its side door. A figure hovered out of it.

--

It all happened in a few seconds. The first bolt of lighting was all for Hercules, who got electrocuted for good and slammed back into the ground.

"What the hell?" Luke Cage nicely summarized everyone's thoughts with those words, just before a volley of smaller but not less devastating lightning bolts hit him and the other rebels. How could bolts choose their targets? The registration forces didn't even get grazed by the discharge of electricity.

"Ahhhh!"

"Kate!" Hawkeye didn't get excluded from the electro-beating either, much to Naruto's surprise and dismay. He worried immediately. Kate, super-sniper or not, was just a normal human at physique. A lightning could kill her. He kneeled down and checked her pulse and breath. "… She's okay…" He then turned his head to the left, seeing a human silhouette landing on the ground, holding a hammer above his head, from which electricity was still crackling. It was probably his fault that had started raining as well. "… The clone… Thor…"

"My god…" Daredevil said, even if he wasn't referring to the god that had just landed in front of him, mantle, hammer and blonde hair.

--

In that precise moment, Layla Miller shivered. Sometime, she hated being selectively omniscient. Especially when she came to know things like that. "… Naruto…"

--

The registration forces began to clear the ground around the cloned's god landing place, while their opponents were still stunned by the asgardian's sudden appearance. "Thor?" The Falcon was the first one to voice his surprise and shock. Surprise at seeing someone who should have been dead in the mythical Ragnarok, the twilight of gods of the northern mythology. Shock because the man's first course of action was to attack them. "Thor, what are you doing? It's me, man. The Falcon…"

"Where have you been? Everybody thought you were dead." Dagger continued. Then, there was the first indication that there was something wrong with the god when he pulled the hand holding the hammer behind his back, and a snarl that had no place on Thor's face suddenly appeared.

"No, Dagger. That would be you." He threw his hammer, with destructive effect. Just the air that it moved with his passage was enough to send the whole group of rebels flying, making them land right after unceremoniously and hard. Those who were hit by the hammer itself were off a lot worse.

"Oh my god. This is wrong." Dagger voiced her thoughts out loud, as she felt the content of her stomach rising up, threatening to go back outside. "We've got to get out of here. This is really, really wrong…"

"Wretches." Thor declared, as his hammer came back to his hand, the snarl still on his face. "You're not going anywhere." Thor slammed his hammer with both hands on the ground, and a localized earthquake shook the rebel forces again. No time to rest, to get up, no mercy at all.

Naruto stared at everything in horror while standing above a metallic ledge, the barely conscious Kate in his arms. "… Just what the hell is going on here?!"

--

"Cap, please. Don't get up. I don't want to hit you again." Tony's armor had finished attacking as programmed when Cap had been injured enough to fall to the ground, but the 'man who is the country' can't be put down that easily, even if here easily is jaw, right femur and a lot other broken bones. "Your jaw's practically hanging off. Just surrender, and I'll get you medical attention from the S.H.I.E.L.D. people out there."

"You really think I'm going down…" Will. An unbreakable will. That's one trait that has always been made Captain America someone a notch above everyone else. You can injure him, break him, but as long as you don't make it physically impossible for him to get up once downed, if it's just pain the only detractor to his standing position, he will get up. "To some pampered punk like you?"

"Iron-Man to all points: activate your audio-blocks. This is going to hurt…" Iron-Man had seen that kind of look time and time again. He knew that he wasn't going to surrender. So, he decided to go for it. A little ultrasonic frequency. Similar to the one Kimura had used on his clones when Naruto went to rescue Cessily.

--

"Ahhhhhhhhh!" That was how he understood immediately why he and his allies weren't screaming out loud in pain while Kate in his arms, the other Young Avengers and everyone else on Cap's said. They weren't feeling their brains turned into paste. Naruto began to tremble with rage and disgust. He made a big jump and landed right beside the other SRA force's members, just as the Thor clone had finished laying waste to them.

"Oh, lord. This is horrible." Susan Storm was as disgusted as him, it seemed. The people writhing in pain on the ground had been battered mercilessly, without a chance to fight back, played on them psychologically and physically, and then rendered incapable of fighting back by something so painful that Naruto had felt sorry for his clones, when they had been subjects to the same kind of attack, and he was sure that this one was even more refined, painful and effective. "I can't even look…"

"I don't like it either, Sue, but at least this way there's no broken bones." Reed replied, his voice sounding as emotionally detached as one could. "Stand down, Thor. The S.H.I.E.L.D. cleanup squad can handle things from here."

"… So, this is how it's going to be?" Most of the people around turned to him when Naruto talked, right after creating a Kage Bunshin to take care of Kate for him. "We lure them into a trap, we use surprise twice on them by using the sudden re-appearance of a friend who they thought dead and suddenly wants them dead or at least paralytic and then we render them unable to fight back by using something so painful that they can't even form a proper sentence?!"

"… I know it's inhuman, Militia, but this is the safest way." Reed continued.

"Safe for who?! Us?!" Naruto would have none of it, though, it seemed. "There are no civilians around and it seems that we have the upper hand in firepower, here, so I think the least we could do is get our hands dirty!"

"So what do you suggest we did?" Naruto turned around to meet the questioning face of Samson, his arms crossed over his chest. "Fight till the last men against them? Give them a fair fight with equal odds till either side is spent and unable to lift a finger anymore?"

"Wow, you read my mind, doc!" Samson was trying to be sarcastic, but those were exactly Naruto's thoughts, shocking the psychologist. "These people have no fault if not fighting for what they believe it's right! If we know we're going to win, the least we could is fighting them fair and square, not… Not… This!" He said, throwing his arm to the side, pointing at the group of twitching people on the ground.

"Aren't you a ninja?" The next person to talk was Hank Pym. "I think you would have appreciated something like this…"

"… I've never been much of a ninja in that way. Also, I could ask you, aren't we supposed to be super-heroes?" Naruto replied, his tone lower but still dark, then he moved his head up as he heard a noise. He stared and then grinned. "… Hey, let me guess. You didn't have ways of experimenting if the frequency had any effect on demigods."

"What?" Everyone turned around just as Hercules slammed a fuel tank on Iron-Man's head, generating an enormous explosion. The rebel forces stopped twitching and screaming, as the shock interrupted the armor's broadcasting of the ultrasound that was supposed to keep them down.

"Somebody switched it off!" Kate said, suddenly able to walk on her own again, mimicked by the others as Naruto's clone disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"So what are you waiting for?" The rebel forces counterattacked immediately, taking their opponents by surprise, fighting back, but Naruto knew better.

"Falcon! See to Captain America! We need to get him out of here!" Hercules' words just proved his point, as the black-skinned hero took flight and the demigod engaged Iron-Man. The anti-registration heroes were now too battered and tired to fight back efficiently. If they kept on fighting they would lose.

"… This is not…" Naruto stood alone, almost forgotten, in the middle of the fray. Punches, blasts of energy, projectiles, everything zoomed around him, but he seemed to be avoided by both sides. _I could end this right now. I could spawn a couple thousand of Kage Bunshins and end this, but… It just wouldn't feel right. Not after what we've done to them._ "… This is wrong… This is dirty."

He felt his whole body tremble, anger and confusion taking a hold of his mind. He didn't understand why they were fighting like this. They were heroes, they weren't supposed to fight dirty. They weren't supposed to brutalize their opponents. They weren't supposed to act like brawlers. Where was the 'honour', the goodwill, everything that he had witnessed and seen fighting beside the kids at the Xavier's? Those words felt so empty to him, standing amidst people who were supposed to be Laurie's, Cess', Laura's betters.

"… Not now…" He was starting to feel those familiar whispers again, and without being unconscious. Whispers that told him to just let go, to take a hold of the power that was surging through him, that already was sharpening his nails and slitting his eyes, to take that fight in his hands and end it, along with the lives of everyone around him. "Shut up… Just shut up…" He brought his right forearm to his face. "Why aren't you working?! The overgrown furball bothering me is the last thing I need right now!"

"Guys, get together! We're getting out of here!" The rebels were re-grouping, it seemed, as Falcon had grabbed a hold of Captain America and was flying back to the main group. Luke Cage had shouted the warning, while Goliath provided a distraction, since the cape-killers were joining the fight as well.

"Open fire!"

"You're kidding, right?" The gargantuan super-hero threw a truck at the first group stationed upon a nearby building, before turning his attention to the most dangerous superhuman on his feet, the one that could prevent their escape. Naruto suddenly stopped his internal musings, and instinctively, he turned his head to the scene, observing as Goliath charged 'Clor'. "Get ready for the shortest comeback in history, Thor."

"I don't think so." He didn't think that he could release bolts from his hammer as well. He thought he could just command them to fall from the sky, but the cloned asgardian had proved him wrong as he gathered enough electricity to shape a beam that pierced through Goliath's chest and heart.

"My god…" Dagger's words were barely a whisper, and the fight and time itself seemed to stop as Goliath's now lifeless body fell to the ground, earning an enormous shockwave, a little earthquake from the earth itself, just as Falcon passed by with Cap in his arms. "Thor just killed Goliath."

"Fall back and regroup! We've got to get out of here or we're all going down!" Falcon screamed, and that seemed to break everyone out of their reverie, Naruto included. The rebels scampered and hurried near Cable and the unconscious Cloak, gathering in a small space.

"You are all going down." Too easy of a target for Thor, as the lightning from his hammer rocketed to the sky and formed other thunderous clouds about to discharge. Naruto's gaze fell to Kate, Teddy and the others. Thor had just killed someone. He was going to kill all of them. The clouds discharged.

In those few instants, the bolts fell but never hit their targets, as an invisible barrier protected them, and when the light cleared, both sides were woken up to the sight of a flying Thor slamming through one of the few remaining walls standing.

"Huh?" Daredevil was the first to voice its confusion. Had it been not that the shock of everyone's else had been for the second thing that had happened, Susan would have prompted them to get out of there as soon as possible, but everyone's attention was on the red energy-shrouded shape on his fours in the middle of the field.

"Who… Who dares?!" Thor emerged from the debris as soon as possible, his eyes fixed on the man who had dared raise a hand on the god of thunder.

"… What…" Speed for once didn't know what to say as he observed the growling figure of Naruto on his fours, enveloped in red energy in an animal shape. "A… Fox? With three… No, wait…"

"Naruto?" Patriot was the next to talk, as the bubbling shape seemed to grown another tail out of the same energy, and Naruto's growls became louder.

"… What…" Spider-Man was among the group who could look at him in the eyes. He was one of those who could see how they had became circled by black, how they had become completely blood red and how on his cheeks had appeared feral marks.

"**Youuu…"** Naruto's voice boomed across the flaming field, the rain unable to put out chemical-born fires.

"…" Ms Marvel's thoughts immediately went to the conversation he and the younger blonde had had that morning. About him losing control. "Is… Is this what he meant?" The skin on his right cheek peeled.

--

"… So, it happened." Stephen Strange was of course observing the fight, even in the peace of his voluntary exile. His heart bled at the sight of Goliath's death, and now what he had feared was happening. Doubt, anger, confusion. Everything had made his seal's strength waver, along with the boy's one. "… It seems that he has decided to direct his anger at the clone. If it gets out of hand, I will intervene."

--

No one had been able to peel his/her eyes from the scene, some because they had never seen something like this, everyone because they didn't know just what was happening to the usually cheerful boy. That red energy was familiar to some of the spectator, but they had never seen it take an actual shape, or give it away such a feeling. It felt like it was something alive. Then, there was the fact that Naruto had just shed most of his skin and was losing blood in big droplets: both burned to ashes when they came in contact with the outer stratus of the cloak of energy.

"What the hell is happening to him?!" Speed voiced his concerns loudly, as the ashes (he still had to come to terms with how a liquid could be turned to ashes) began to circle around Naruto, increasing in amount till they formed a dome around him.

"…" Having analyzed the energy in a safe environment, Tony was maybe the only one who could analyze successfully what was happening to Naruto. "The energy reading are enormous. He's gathering more and more of it and…" No one could see it, but Tony's eyes had widened to enormous proportions. "Everyone, get down!"

Naruto's body had gathered more than the maximal levels of reading Tony had registered from the boy, focusing and concentrating everything in the smallest shape possible, but now it was going to release violently in a bigger shape, and the release would be violent. A tornado would have made less damage of the mass of air that moved against them at impossible speeds. Susan felt an enormous headache surge as she shielded everyone around from it and the flying debris. When the wind stopped, the younger heroes' faces blanked. For the Young Avengers, it was the first time that they were face to face with something that could project its intent and its soul. Something that felt so powerful and at the same time so evil as the strange red and black shape that now stood on his fours in the middle of the clearing, slowly opening his maw and then suddenly standing on his back legs to let out a loud growl. That broke everyone out of their reverie.

"Cable, get us the hell out of here!" The mutant complied and activated Cloak's powers to take everyone away from there, while the Thor clone gritthed his teeth.

"Demon! Monster which wears mortal spoils! How dare thee strike the son of Odin?!" And off he went, charging blindly, hammer raised, at the now transformed Naruto, whose smile seemed to say that he wasn't waiting for anything else. The beast crouched down and dashed at the blonde god too.

"Everyone under class 50, get the hell out of here! Hill, every cape-killer in a 4 kilometers radius needs to get away!" _Stark, what the hell are you on? We…_ Tony wouldn't have any of that. "Hill, we're talking about a battle with a clone of Thor. He's just thirty percent as powerful as the original, but that's still Omega! And Militia in this form... I have no idea of his potential!" Stark always hated how they never thought about a scale to subdivide the Omega Level. Omega Level were all the threats over Class 50, but there were grades for Omega Levels as well.

The two Omega Level threats in question were about to strike at each other, or so Thor thought. At the last moment Naruto's tails lengthened and slammed the ground hard enough to make him jump higher then Thor. He used the momentum to slam both his paws into the clone's back, slamming him into the ground, hard, but he didn't stop there. "What sorcery…" The paws had gotten a hold of Thor, and they started to lengthen as the red beast swung him around. First he slammed him into one of the few remaining standing buildings, then right on the other side of the field, not before making a wide arc up above in the air. He slammed him just beside the disappearing rebels, with the Young Avengers giving Naruto one last worried glance.

"I command thee… To unhand me!" A powerful discharge of electricity freed its user, alias Thor. Naruto retracted his lengthened appendages and looked at them with a vacant stare, then returned a smirking face to his target.

"Tony, orders?" Asked Ms Marvel, approaching Iron-Man. She was maybe the only one among their roster who Naruto had talked to about what was happening in front of them. 'How many guys able to level a mountain have you got?'

"We contain this. Getting in the middle of that kind of fight would be suicide. So, we wait till one of them takes the other out." Ms Marvel's eyes widened at that as she turned around to face Tony. The man anticipated her words. "If Naruto will be the one about to get defeated, I will personally jump in there and scream the passcode for Thor's deactivation in his ears."

"… Glad to hear you say that." Carol said, nodding in approval, before turning immediately back to the fight.

"I shall erase thy existence, demon!" This Thor seemed to not have anything from what the original had learned from the human world, including speech closer to modern English. This time he decided to attack from afar. He started rotating his hammer in his right hand, as electricity surged from it and travelled to the sky above. The sky lightened up as bolts of lightings began to fell all around him, travelling towards Naruto.

The red beast simply began to move out of the way as he was dodging a bunch of paperballs, using the providential appearance of more appendages. Scratch providential, he was making them appear on his own. "You… Wretch!" Thor lost his patience. More and more bolts fell to the ground and he threw his hammer at Naruto. As the barrage of lighting bolts kept on getting larger and faster, the red-clad Jinchuuriki found himself with less and less room to dodge, till he got hit straight in the chest by Thor's hammer. He flew through the air and then slammed loudly into the ground, a small crater created by the flying debris.

"He…" Tony observed everything with his armor, as the smoke cleared and the still moving figure of Naruto got back on his feet, grasping the hammer with one hand. Unscathed. "Not even a scratch."

"Not even… How is that possible?" Carol voiced her surprise as soon as those words came out of Tony's mouth.

"We've seen that this energy that Naruto manipulates strengthens his body the more energy he applies, and it also boosts his healing factor. Add to it that he's currently enveloped into that kind of energy…"

"Is he… Invulnerable?" Tony shook his head.

"No. Just very hard to injure. I don't think our Thor clone will be able to stand up to the challenge." Tony said, as Naruto grasped the hammer and threw it back at him. The clone barely managed to grab it, only to find out that the beast's hands had followed his weapon, and slammed with it into his frame and basically shaped him into the ground.

"I… Will not…" 'Clor' strained himself to get up, to push away the enormous paws crushing him into the ground, but to no avail. "I will not be humiliated by a demon!" With a discharge of electricity from the hammer, the clone managed to break free of Naruto's grip, then, he stood up, fury in its eyes, while the 'foul beast' in front of him just kept on mocking him with that air of amusement. He gritted his teeth and then started to swing in circle his hammer over his head by its leather strap. "I shall destroy thee! You shall fall before the full power of the god of thunder!"

The transformed Naruto just tilted his head to one side, observing as the cloned god seemed to gather all the thunderous clouds in the surroundings above his head. Suddenly, he smirked, and he stood up on two legs, suddenly roaring out to the sky, before hundreds of small spheres of chakra, red and blue, shot out from his body and began to fill the sky around him.

"Tony…" Carol asked worriedly, but the Iron-Man was already on the job. He was analyzing the agglomerates of energy that had shot out from Naruto's body just to then stop and began floating around him, and the readings were…

"… Oh god…" _This is bad. This is really bad. That much energy, if it get released… not that Thor's thunders will be any better._ He turned on the communication device of his armour. "Hill! All the helicopters must land as soon as possible! I don't know what Militia is preparing, but it's going to be bigger than a simple thunderstorm!"

Thor continued to gather clouds, as the first thunderbolts began to fall from the sky, but he controlled them and made the shapes gather above him, forming the shape of a sphere. Naruto got on his fours again, his tails arching behind his back and pointing just above his head, which he raised while growling. All the small balls of chakra began to gather in the spot between the point of his tails and his mouth, and in a few seconds it formed a sphere of black chakra the size of his own head, but that wasn't what frightened Iron-Man even more. What frightened him was when Naruto compressed the sphere in a smaller one the size of a baseball. The sheer repulsion of the process created a crater right under Naruto's feet.

"Nonononono! Hill, have those helicopters landed?! If he releases that much compressed energy, the shockwave will be enormous!" He then turned to Ms Marvel, who was already preparing herself. "Carol, if…"

"I know. If any of that energy comes our way, the order is to absorb and dispel." _It feels… It feels so heavy by standing a hundred of meters afar? Just what kind of energy is Naruto manipulating… Ah._ "W-What… What is he…"

While Thor's own ball, this one made of thunderbolts and becoming as big as himself kept on gathering, Naruto's jaw seemed to lengthen and almost dethatch from the rest of the head, creating an enormous maw… Which closed around the small ball of energy, which Naruto swallowed immediately after, earning a look of shock from everyone, including the clone. "What in the despairs of Hel…"

"He ate it?! He ate it?!" Peter was voicing everyone's shock in his usual way, but his shock grew as Naruto suddenly began to tremble and fell to the ground, like he had suddenly become much, much heavier. "And… Yuck!" And right after, it was like Naruto had transformed into a human balloon. His whole body became round, like it was inflated, and it kept on growing in diameter while staying in that same shape, till it reached a diameter of at least two meters. "Damn, talk about unhealthy food! He gained like a couple tons with just one bite!"

"Just what is he…" Carol was observing Naruto carefully, trying to figure out just what he was going to do now that he had become an human balloon, when she noticed something. Something was starting to come out from Naruto's mouth. "Is that… Smoke?" Then, it hit her. She had seen something like that just in Japanese cartoons, but, it just seemed like the closest thing to the truth she could get. "Tony… I think he's going to shot all that energy out of his mouth… Straight at Thor."

"… Yes…" Tony had not stopped analyzing Naruto one second. After he had swallowed the sphere, the energy had been trapped inside a closed space and had been released, and it was now slowly moving up the transformed's boy throat, while the black-reddish beast raised his now enlarged neck up, to facilitated the 'throwing up'.

"… You demon!" Thor had finished charging an enormous globular thunder it seemed, and with a swing of its hammer, he sent it flying towards Naruto, the air burning around it, bursting into flames, and just at the same time, Naruto lowered his head… And shot out all the energy inside his body at once, in the shape of a huge white projectile, a hissing sound filling the air while it destroyed the ground it hovered on. The two attacks were headed at each other straight on.

"Oh, sh…" Peter managed to let out before he decided it would be safe to duck inside the makeshift trench they had excavated in a hurry in the last few minutes.

"EVERYONE, DOWN!" Few times had Tony shouted like that, and good thing he had commanded all the helicopters in the zone to land as soon as possible. That way, they were just moved away when the two attacks met dead on, releasing their deadly energy, struggling for supremacy… For a few seconds.

"No! Your power ca…" Those were the last words of the Thor clone before the enormous beam of energy that got released by the much smaller projectile engulfed him. A white beam of energy tall and large as a skyscraper, that destroyed and annihilated everything in its path, while sending winds of hundreds of kilometres a hour of speed in all directions.

"Ahhh!"

"Susan!" The Invisible woman didn't need to be told twice as she shielded everyone she could from the wind and the flying debris, aided by Iron-Man and the few other heroes that had possessed similar abilities. The struggle was enormous but brief, since in a few seconds and a flash of white light, everything was over. When the winds died down, Tony was the first to redirect his attention to the fight, which, he supposed, had ended.

"… This…" There was still too much smoke for him to see clearly, but his armour could see in other ways, like reading energy signatures, and while Naruto's one was still as clear as day, Clor's one had disappeared, and when the smoke cleared Tony understood that his insurance premiums for that place would skyrocket. Hardly anything was now left of his facility and of anything that stood behind Thor for a few kilometres. It hadn't been destroyed, it had been annihilated, disintegrated, turned into another state of existence, mostly gaseous. Everything that remained of his Thor clone was a black smear on the ground.

"… So… Such power, he…" Carol now was finally sure that they really would need someone able to level mountains to stop what was now standing a few kilometres in front of him, like Naruto had said, but unfortunately, the Hulk was out of order, and the Sentry was nowhere to be found. How would they stop… Suddenly, the creature's smirking face turned to them. "He saw us!"

"Everyone, get ready! We…"

"_No need to worry, Tony."_ Suddenly, the Iron-Man heard a familiar voice in his head, and he shifted his eyes to Naruto again as an even more familiar astral form appeared right in front of the transformed Militia. "Stephen?"

"_You've defeated quite an abomination, young Naruto… But that power still has more control over you that you have over it."_ Doctor Strange's astral form hovered right in front of the bestial form of Naruto, who observed him with curiosity for a few seconds, before trying to slash at him with his enormous paw, to no avail. _"Such malice and evil in this power… But I see that it is merely influencing your mind. It's still your mind in control, just under the influence of the beast inside of you. So…"_ Strange moved his hands and fingers a couple times in strange patterns before leaning his right index finger on Naruto's forehead.

The transformed youth growled before becoming completely stiff. His body, the chakra enveloping him itself became immobile. Then, the chakra began to recede and disappear, revealing the severely burned, reddish skin of a still alive Naruto, who promptly fainted to the ground once the whole chakra had disappeared, leaving behind a battered Naruto along with his costume. _"This should do it…"_ Strange said, before turning around in Tony's direction, with a look of admonishment that the Iron-Man knew was all for himself, then he disappeared in thin air.

"… It's clear. You can approach him." Tony obeyed, and the 'powerhouses' of the group began to approach the now unconscious blonde, while Peter, now that the adrenaline from the battle had wore off, took his time to observe the battlefield. It had been pulverized by a boy who had transformed into an engine of destruction because of anger and delusion when he saw how inhumanly they had been fighting and how something that was supposed to be about protecting people ended with the death of one of them. All in all, the situation right down sucked. All the others too, now that the immediate danger had disappeared, had focused back on the dead form of Goliath.

"What the hell happened, Reed?" Hank voiced his anger with the one who had worked mostly on the brain of their now destroyed clone. "I thought you gave him some kind of directives! You said this guy would be just like the old Thor!"

"Sue, please." Reed ignored him in favour of his wife, who was facing away from him, but he didn't need to see her face to know what she was thinking. "You've got to believe I had…"

"Don't even speak to me." Susan Storm replied, stopping Reed's words before they left his mouth, turning around to glare at her husband. "Don't say a damn word."

"How is he?" Ms Marvel asked She-Hulk, who had been the first one to approach the unconscious Naruto, checking for the basic life-signs.

"He's just unconscious. His skin is severely burned but it's already healing. He will be okay." The green-skinned woman kneeled down and picked the boy up, noticing how he felt incredibly lighter than he should be, even with her super-strength. She took her time to observe his sleeping face, comparing it to the grinning, positively evil one from a few minutes before, so powerful and destructive. "… Can't hold a candle to Bruce, but the reasoning is the same. Do not anger or upset the kid."

"…" Spider-Man had approached the fallen body of Goliath along with a few capekillers and superheroes, Iron-Man right behind him. "I thought you said you knew what you were doing, Tony. I thought we were doing this so no one else got hurt."

--

"**Eheheh… I must say, it was… Entertaining. Best challenge anyone has proven in a while. Maybe you should have gone a little easier on the thing, boy. To savour the battle a little longer…"**

"Shut up. This is all your fault, and you know it." Naruto said, sitting with his legs crossed in front of the Kyuubi's cage. The tailed beast roared in laughter, and the blonde got even more angry. "What's so funny?!"

"**I've been hated and feared, not without a good reason, but it's the first time I've been a scapegoat!"** Naruto got a bit taken back by those words, and he gritted his teeth. **"Honest to the death, hn? Yeah, you're using me as a scapegoat. It's not my fault if the fight you joined isn't one you like. Not my fault if your side of the battle wasn't as white as you thought. Not my fault if doubt and anger broke your resolve and let yourself be influenced by me. Blame the ones you call allies on this world, young one."**

"… What could you possibly know about allies?" Naruto said, his voice low, and his speech denying the only thing in Kyuubi's sentence that he could deny, earning a snort from the gigantic fox.

"**Good point. I'm the most powerful being that ever existed on your world, kit. I've always been standing alone, ever when I wasn't this powerful, and yet, I do know about allies. When I was younger and weaker, I've learned to observe and listen."** That caught Naruto's interest, who slowly raised his head to meet the fox's eyes. **"And I'll let you know, kit… You've had friends, but true allies… You have no idea what true allies are, for they're something that you can't find in times of peace. You can find them in struggles only."**

--

"With but one arm left, he raised your sword." On another planet, in another galaxy, who knows how far from earth, another battle had ended, but not without taking its horrible place. They had begun as a group of seven gladiators, been shaped as they killed each other out of a group of twenty-one. They had been promised freedom if they fought for the Red King's people's enjoyment, but the king hadn't forgiven the green one's insult: on his first day on Sakaar, he had dared give him a scar on the cheek, identical to the one he had given him, hence his new name: the green scar.

They had dropped a bomb on them along with a squadron of death's guards. They had come out victorious, but they had lost a companion. One more had been lost days before because of her agreement to a cause of rebellion against the Red King, and they hadn't heard from her again. Now one member of their group prayed for him, a shadow priest. "We commend him to you, o prophet. Forgive him and embrace him."

"Forgiving him and *kik* embracing him." The hiveling, the only other native to the world of Sakaar, a humanoid bug with six arms and two legs, and the head of a insect, pincers and all, chanted the priest's prayer, before his thoughts took a turn for the darker. "Tomorrow *kik* we dying, too, huh?"

"If it is our time." Another member of the group, a giant of rock native of the planet Krona, replied to the hiveling's fears by condescending them.

"Fssss. Don't listen to him, little bug. You saw much today." Fourth member of their group was a member of the alien race known as the Brood. Insects as well, but more akin to locusts, not for the aspect that resembled a humanoid wasp with a maw with sharp teeth and long, sharp, whip-like limbs. "But I've seen far worse. And lived to tell the tale." In the past weeks, in which they had been put together as a team, they had not shared much of each other, but in the face of a death of a comrade in arms, the time seemed right.

"My sisters and I were Broodworld's greatest soldiers. Warriors-prime, they called us. When invaders came to our world, the queen sent us after them, deep into the catacombs below the throne city, but in the twisted tunnels, there lived creatures more fearsome than we." The Brood alien still remembered how the twisted monsters maw had closed around her and her group of warriors. "My sisters and I were swallowed whole. We would die slowly and horribly, digested alive, but the catacombs held an even greater threat. A presence, a fire, a light." The alien paused, thinking about just what she had witnessed, and not closely, judging by how the others had ended up.

"I can't tell you what it looked like… None who saw it lived to describe it. The superstitious say it was the vengeful soul of a long-defeated enemy. If a Brood stood in its presence, it would judge her, call her a monster and then burn her to crystal. Inside the belly of the beast, we heard rumblings. Great cracks and shifts. The soul had broken free… Judging all it touched… And killing my whole world." Brood continued, remembering what she had seen from the inside of the crystallized beast: her whole world getting blown to pieces. "But my sisters and I survived, safe inside the monster that had swallowed us… Now a vessel in which we sailed to this new world." What looked like a grim smile showed on the Brood's face. "So I escaped the wrath of a vengeful ghost. How could a mere king scare me?"

"Hah! That's right!" The speech seemed to have a 'pumping' effect on the little hiveling, who turned to the giant of rock again. "What saying you now *kik*, Korg?"

"I… Can top that." Korg crossed his hands under his chin as he began to recall. "My brothers and I had flown to a small world. Strange and green as the Hulk." Saying this, the giant's eyes shifted to the only occupant of the room whose size exceed his own one. "I was a young brick. Strong and wild. Ready to conquer. When we saw our first native, my brother Margus' orders were to capture and study him, but the creature had other ideas." Korg's mind wandered to the visage of the man: girded for battle, a hammer in hand, a red cape flowing from his shoulder.

"He chipped the very stone from our flesh. Tore through the bars of our strongest cage, and smashed our mechano warbot like it was made of glass. So we fled. Like fresh-cut rocklings. How could we conquer a planet of creatures such as he? We were young. If we'd just stayed a bit longer, we'd have learned the truth. He was the only one of his kind. Indeed, he was a living god." A smile surfaced on his face as well. "So I fought the heavens themselves, and all it cost me was a few chips of stone. Why should I worry about what a mere emperor throws at me?"

"Yah! O*kik*kay, two-hands, your turn now!" The hiveling continued, turning to the biggest person in the room, who just let out a 'Hmph' of bore, and didn't answer, but like an excited child the 'four-hands' wasn't going to let it down so easily. "Come on!"

"All right." The green giant decided to surrender to the little bug's requests. "I told you about the puny humans. No matter what I did, no matter how much I helped them, they hated me. Because I'm the strongest, and they're weak. And the weakest of them all? The one that hates me the most?" The green giant was slightly modifying his story, not wanting to tell everything to his companions. Just the parts he deemed the most important. "Banner." He said, a bit of anger in his voice.

"Tricky thing is that Banner's smart. One of the smartest. And one day, he finished a bomb. The worst bomb ever made. It could level a city. Make it big enough, and you could destroy the world. And what do you think he does with it?" The Hulk snorts, amused by his own lies. "That's right. He tries to kill me. But I didn't die. I got stronger. And stronger." Like to prove his point, the green behemoth gripped his hand into a fist and showed it to his companions. "Let the Red King drop every bomb he's got. He can't beat us."

"All right, all right! Miek telling one now." The hiveling, named Miek, stood on his back legs and began to talk. "Miek all alone. Hiding in the alleys, creeping and skulking and stealing. Nobody helping him. Nobody *kik* caring. Matter of fact, everyone trying to *kik* killing him, or slaving him." Then his face moved to the green giant, to the figure of the Hulk. "Until Miek met you." The humanoid bug said, caring and even a bit of pride in his voice. "Hulk saving Miek from the Red King." His face moved to Korg. "Korg saving Miek from stone men." Again, his face moved, this time to Brood. "Brood saving Miek from the killer bomb."

He closed one of his hands in a fist, just like the Hulk had done a few seconds before. "Everybody helping everybody. So who caring about the Red King? Miek deciding. Being like Skee." Miek said, stretching one of his four arms to point at their dead comrade, how had proven himself a true warrior in his last moments. He knew his injury would lead him to death, having been gutted and one arm cut off. He chose to keep on fighting while bleeding and without an arm. "They *kik* cutting off three hands, Miek still holding sword in last one left." He gripped another hand into a fist, trembling for the strength used, shoving it into the air in front of his face. "Fighting for friends!"

"… I've heard enough." With those words, in those few seconds, everyone's attention had focused on the little insect. Weakest one among them, but his words had struck true to everyone in the room, including the shadow priest, that prior to the battle that had taken Skee's life, had chose perpetual silence. "Let us be Warbound." The shadow priest leaned down and leaned his own right hand over their dead comrade's own one. "In life and death. The oath that cannot be broken."

The shadow priest closed his eyes and focused for a second, recalling to mind the honorific titles of their departed companion. "He was Lavin Skee, protector of Elloe Kaifi and hero of our second trial. We who honor him speak our true names and bind to each other forever. Hiroim the shamed, shadow warrior and saka priest."

"Miek, unhived, last-one-living." Miek leaned his hand on top of Hiroim's one, while Brood leaned one of her appendages on top of his.

"No-Name of the Brood, warrior-prime of Broodworld." The set of hands were joined by Korg's big one.

"Korg of Krona. Son of O-Korg and Ahna." Korg said, but before that, he added with a soft voice a few words, reminder of another one of the trials he had to face on Saakar. "Brother-killer of Margus."

"Hulk." The biggest hand in the room, the human, green one, joined the pile, symbolizing their union, their now unbreakable bond.

"Warbound." Voiced Miek, to which Korg nodded.

"Yes, Warbound… Whatever may came." Thus, the bond was formed. A bond which strength would be proven and showed on that world and another one, which now was facing the shattering of its own bonds.

--

"… Hnnn…" Naruto got up in a sitting position instinctively when he came to and realized he was in a bed. He slowly opened his eyes, feeling them as heavy as lead. "Did anyone see the truck?"

"Wasn't a truck. It was yourself, they say." Naruto's eyes opened completely and turned to the left, and he found Jennifer Walters, alias She-Hulk, on a chair just beside his bed. "Quite a mess you've made back there, boy."

"A mess? I…" His mind was still a little cloudy because of the sleep, but the memories surfaced almost immediately. It seemed like the Three-In-One's treatment had proactive effect. He remembered everything about the battle, but also everything about what he had done to the Thor clone. "The clone… He…" He swallowed. "The big guy… He…"

"Goliath died, yes. That what hit your buttons? I must say, you did a good job with the clone. We found nothing left of him." Naruto didn't reply, instead choosing to stare at his hands. "So, congratulations. You've just entered the Omega list."

"Omega… List?" Naruto turned around, raising an eyebrow at the mention of that unknown word.

"Basically, super-heroes are classified in base of their overall power. The maximum level is Omega. Also, you seem to have joined a dangerous club: the club of 'the madder you get, the stronger you get'. It puts you in relationship with a very tough crowd, you know." Jennifer said, leaning her chin upon her right hand, which elbow rested on the chair. Naruto observed her, and thought about her words.

"Well… It works like that, yes…" Naruto scratched the back of his head in embarrassment, remembering just the destruction he had laid out. He then showed Jen his bracer. "But when I came to this world, Doc Strange gave me this. It blocks out the process as long as I keep a clear mind."

"… That means that your mind state started to weaken or something?" Jennifer decided to peer a little further. She wasn't a shrink like Samson, but she was a good listener, at least.

"… Doubt can do terrible things to your resolve, it seems." Naruto sighed, letting his arm fall down on his bed yet again. He scratched through his hair with one hand. "After what I saw yesterday… I'm not sure…"

"About if you're on the right side of the war anymore?"

"Not exactly." That took Jennifer by surprise. She was already expecting a teenage emotional breakdown, but, nothing of the sort happened. "I still believe in what we're trying to do. Registration is needed, but… It's the methods. The way we're going about it. Also, there's something else that's bothering me… But I can't quite place it."

"… Kid, you're the most mature sixteen years old I've ever met, you know that?" She-Hulk got up from her chair and ruffled Naruto's hair herself. "Now I get why Janet had so much fun teasing you on that evening."

"Yeah… She sure… Wait a minute." Naruto blinked, and turned to Jennifer in a flash. "How do you know about the dinner?"

"E-Eh?" _Oh, shit. It slipped my tongue… _"Well… You know… She talked about it."

"Yeah, right. She would talk about having dinner with a sixteen years old that she wants to appear in her program and which she was scouting for future pickings to another woman." Jennifer cursed Naruto's sudden gaining of a few levels in understanding of the female mind, and was about to curse his suddenly sharpened mind as well. "… He spies on his own team-members, right?"

"…" Jennifer stared at Naruto for a few seconds and then sighed. "It's a war, Militia."

"… And as I said, I don't like these kind of methods, darn it." Naruto threw the covers off himself, earning an amused look from Jennifer. That was when Naruto noticed that the morning had brought stiffness with it. "DAMN IT!"

"I've heard about hard-ons, but mad-ons? You're something, kid." Naruto picked up the covers and wrapped them around his waist before storming to the bathroom.

_I really, really, really have to talk to Tony._

_Continues…_

_In the next chapter…_

Naruto, upon talking and spying a little on his own faction, taking example from his boss, finds out things that just punch in the face his morals, and so, he takes a drastic decision, meeting Spider-Man on the way. What will happen? Stay tuned.


	24. Civil War VIII

**No Reading**

**Chapter22: Decisions**

_The night of the battle_

"Appeal for amnesty? Are you insane?" Even while going through the process of recovering from serious fractures, Cap seemed to retain his full spirit, especially when his ears detected outrageous choices of words. "We just picked up another twenty supporters, Nighthawk. Tony's people are disappearing by the hour."

"So what? Bill's dead and half our guys got thrown into this number forty-two complex… This big S.H.I.E.L.D. penitentiary Reed Richards was building…" Nighthawk was one of the three heroes who had decided to leave Cap's team following the events of the previous night. Cable, because he had decided that he had to prioritize another course of action to try and end that war. Nighthawk and Stature, because they had decided to drop out of Cap's faction.

"And you're willing to let them get away with that, Kyle?" Cap retorted, only to be answered this time by Cable.

"The way I see it, they can do anything they like now that they've got Thor on their side." The mutant said, only to suddenly blink, as his cybernetic empathy had brought him news about the battle they had fled from a few hours before. "… Well, I guess it wasn't Thor, then."

"What do you mean, Cable?" Cap inquired, seeing how Cable had anticipated his own retort about that not being Thor but a frankenstein-like monster created by Reed and Tony.

"The other reason for our rapid retreat destroyed the Thor clone. Seems like they couldn't even find a scrape of the thing left after he was done with him." That made everyone in the room stop, thinking about how that thing had handed them their collective hides a few seconds before Militia had transformed into whatever it was. "Well, doesn't change much. They can always make another, and they still have the upper hand in firepower."

"They're fighting among themselves, Cable. This is a good sign. As I said, we might shift the balance in power soon." Cap continued, to which Nighthawk replied by shaking his head.

"Bill was dead the second he thought he was bigger than the law, Cap." He began to walk towards the exit, followed by Stature and Cable. "C'mon guys, let's get out of here." The other members of the Young Avengers immediately fixed their gaze on the moving figure of their team-mate, since they still couldn't believe that she was really leaving.

"What you gonna do, Kyle? Pull on those nice little jackboots and smack whoever they tell you to smack? Super heroes are supposed to be volunteers." Cage added his two cents, but to no avail. Nighthawk didn't even turn around to face him.

"No, we're supposed to be the good guys, Cage." He kept on walking out, and this time it was Stature's turn to be stopped, by a distraught Hawkeye.

"Cassie?" The blonde in question was maybe even more distraught, tears starting to fall from her eyes.

"I'm sorry, Kate, but I don't want to end up in this superjail like Wiccan." Along with Goliath's death, the girl had been pretty shaken by Wiccan's capture. "I want to fight villains, not other superheroes."

"… That, or you're pretty shaken by ninja-boy's transformation, am I right?" That earned a slight shiver from Cassie, indeed. Speed massaged his sore bandaged shoulder while groaning. "Ever since that time we knew that he was pretty powerful, but this powerful… Quite a surprise, hn? The devilish appearance was quite a shocker too."

"…" Cap listened to Speed's words carefully, since he was one of the few ones who couldn't see just in what Naruto had transformed, since he was occupied brawling with Iron-Man and then he was pretty much out of it.

"And glowing eye guy there just said that he managed to completely destroy that freak Thor clone who, according to what I read here…" Speed had recovered pretty instantaneously thanks to his accelerated metabolism, as he showed by running around the room, snatch a datapad out of Daredevil's hands and go back into the same spot in a fraction of a second. "Was just one third as powerful as the original, but that was still enough to kick our butts. Not that I can blame you, though. I almost wet myself as well when he turned all bloody and foxy. Not even Kang felt like pure evil and power." He then turned to Hercules. "That was how it felt like, right?"

"Aye. That's how." Hercules was the oldest living individual in the room, and as such the one with the most experience with things like this, thanks mostly to his mythological origins. "If had to compare it, I'd say the Nemean lion comes as the closest, but even among the savageness, in its eyes, I detected the intelligence, the cunning of foes like…"

"Sheesh! I asked a comparison, not a history lesson!" Speed stopped Hercules' rambling about his past exploits before it went too far, while Kate kept on observing Cassie. The blonde girl was shivering, remembering just what kind of monsters had appeared in front of her, monsters that were going to be her opponents.

"I… I…"

"Let them go if their freedom means so little to them." Cap gave his stern 'approval', giving Cassie the push she needed to get out of that room before Kate or any other of her friends said anything else to her. "It's time we ditched this base for a new one anyway." Once Nighthawk and Cable were out of there as well, he turned to Speed. "Speed, you observed closely what transpired with Militia?"

"Eh? Ah, yes. From when he arrived on the place and started ranting about how inhuman and unfair his pals were. Before that, he was throwing down with Kate." Saying this, the grey-haired speedster pointed one of his thumbs at one of Cap's two 'nurses', who seemed still a bit distracted by what had transpired a few minutes before.

"Y-Yes. He's the one who… I mean, he knocked me out and then gave me first-aid, and basically said that he would keep on doing that till I surrendered…" Kate was broke out from her thoughts by Rogers' sudden attention on her.

"Fits with what he started ranting to the others about, but with how miss Night Nurse ma'am is looking at me, it's better if we have the debrief later." Speed said while sweating because of the glare the woman sent his way. Nurses hate when their patients move when they shouldn't.

"Hmm…" _If only I could talk to that kid once more…_

--

_Ten days later_

"… Amen." Naruto, ever since he came to that new world had been witness to many things that once he would haven't even imagined. One of these was such a funeral. They couldn't manage to shrink Goliath down, so they were forced to bury him in his giant size.

"Hell of a sendoff, given the circumstances." The ex-boxer, a long time friend of Tony, nicknamed 'Happy', was holding one umbrella for two as Tony kept on staring at the lifeless body of Bill Foster in the enormous grave.

"Guy was a superhero, Happy, and he saved a lot of lives over the years." Tony replied, his hands joined in front of his body. "That's something we can't forget no matter how bad this gets."

"Just a shame they couldn't shrink him down. I wonder how much his family had to shell out for these thirty-eight burial plots."

"Nothing. I took care of all the expenses. It was the least I could do… Given the circumstances." And it wasn't just a matter of size, but also the fact that the thing that put a hole through the black hero's body was a monster that he had helped create.

"Heads up, boss." Happy warned his boss of someone incoming, and to that he turned around to face her.

"Mister Stark?" It was a woman dressed in black like everyone at that place, on that rainy day, but it was a special woman. She didn't have superpowers, she didn't have martial arts training or a supreme being, she was something even more fearful. She was a mother. A mother whose pain was basically what had pushed the SRA to full application. Sensing Tony Stark's uneasiness, remembering their last meeting, she immediately cut him off. "Don't worry. I'm not here to give you a hard time. I know you guys have lost a lot of support in the superhero community and I just came by to say my piece."

"… Damn, how in hell can I give him a piece of my mind when he looks like a kicked puppy?" Naruto groaned. He hadn't had a chance of talking to Tony ever since he woke up the day after the battle, and then things had been going on so fast that he just didn't get a chance to do it. He listened to the two's conversation from a few meters behind, while thinking about his own predicament. He still strongly wanted to help Tony with establishing the SRA, but he just couldn't do it like they were doing it. _Mostly because, even if we win, 'rebels' are going to keep on appearing. Their 'animosity' will never die down._ The exchange of words between Tony and Mrs Share had been brief, and that left Naruto to observe his surroundings, and from what he could read in the eyes of many of some of the people at the funeral, he wasn't alone in that same doubt.

"Militia… Uzumaki Naruto, right?" Naruto blinked and turned around, to meet an unfamiliar face, which had however a startling similarity to the man they were burying on that day, even if he didn't know if Goliath wore glasses.

"Ehm… Yes, it's me." Naruto said, nodding with a smile. "And you might be…?"

"Tom Foster. Bill… Goliath, he was my uncle." The young man said, startling poor Naruto.

"Ah… I'm sorry… I…"

"You destroyed the thing that killed him." That made Naruto blink in surprise, even more at the suddenly outstretched hand and arm that appeared in his field of vision. "I wanted to thank you for that. I just wished I could have done it myself."

"Ah… Well…" Naruto uneasily grabbed Tom's outstretched hand and unsteadily shook it. "I mean, I didn't do it to avenge him or anything… I just kinda lost it."

"Still, you did a good thing. Who knows what that abomination could have done, right?" Naruto tensed at those words, thinking about the other heroes that had been in danger of being killed by the out of control Thor clone, including his friends, the Young Avengers.

"… Probably, yes." Naruto shook the hand a bit more for good measure, and then gave the boy a forced smile. "Well, glad to have been of help, what can I say."

"… I can't understand how you can bear standing next to those guys." Tom glared behind him, in the direction of Tony. He then excused himself and reached his other relatives.

"… Darn, Tony. Why are you doing this to yourself?" He was sure that in the long run Tom Foster wouldn't be the only one hating Tony Stark's guts, when all was said and done.

--

"I can't believe it. They almost got blown up?!"

"Yeah. Half of the world's remaining mutants were going to blow just like that." To put emphasis on the point, Julian snapped his fingers, and then groaned. "Seriously, what the hell? Even now that there's this Civil War thing going on, we seem to be devils among devils. They see an X and people go 'OMG! MUTIES! KILL THEM!'"

"… You're awfully stressed, aren't you, Julian?" Santo said, sweatdropping.

"Who wouldn't, by this point? In the meanwhile, Naruto is out there kicking superheroes' butts." The battle had ended on the television, of course, along with some allowed footage. One piece of footage showed Naruto 'whirlwinding' away Luke Cage and then being turned into a pin-cushion by Hawkeye. "Damn, I fear the internet, now. With the fanbase Naruto has gotten, can you imagine what they will say about Hawkeye, now, with these images ending on tv and YouTube?"

"Judging from how Laura has been sharpening her claws, I have a good guess…" Laurie dropped in and basically slumped over the couch, groaning. "I'm worried too. Who knows how is he feeling. His side caused the death of one of their opponents, after all…"

"Well, they don't call it a 'Civil War' for nothing. In war people die, right?" Julian added his two cents, crossing his arms behind his head and leaning back on one arm of the couch.

"Yeah… But do you think that Naruto would really accept that as an explanation?" Laurie continued, her face now in a slight pout.

"… Knowing him?" Julian thought about it for a few seconds, then snorted. "Not a chance in hell."

--

"Ten days ago we took part in probably the most violent police action in twenty years, involving the various powers on either side of the registration act. It was bloody. It was painful."

_Talk about understatement. Too bad it was bloody and painful mainly just for the other side._ Before most of the people around called it a night, Iron Man had called his personal team for a debriefing about the battle of ten days before and the following day's activities.

"It was necessary. I know it was difficult for many of you. More so for some of you than others." Tony didn't turn to him while saying this, but a few others did it for him. "Nonetheless, you all performed admirably. You should all be proud of what you accomplished. But our task isn't finished yet."

_Proud of having kept the casualty at just one person, I guess…_ Naruto had the good sense of not saying that out loud. No use in fomenting animosities, after all.

"The next morning, those we apprehended are going to be moved across town from the temporary holding facility to something a bit more permanent. We would be fools not to expect trouble during the move." Tony pushed a button and a projection of New York city and the path the convoy that they would have to protect would take. "For that reason, I have told only the bare minimum number of police forces necessary for coordination which route we will be taking, so that they, and we, can secure that route. Once we have accomplished this, the rest of our task will be considerably simpler, at least for the moment. You'll find your individual instructions in the other room, along with which parts of the route you'll be protecting." Tony pressed the button again and the projecting disappeared. "That's all."

That said, everyone begun to leave the room, everyone but a pensive Peter Parker, a serious Naruto Uzumaki and a sighing Tony Stark. "You two are being quiet."

"Not feeling quite court-jesterish, today…" Peter muttered, while Naruto just sighed loudly.

"Same here. Lot on my mind." The blonde said, earning a nod of understanding from Tony.

"Anything you want to talk about?" Tony said, taking a chair as well. Spider-Man just got up from his seat, shaking his head.

"Buckets. But what would be the point?" Peter said, kicking the floor slightly with one of his feet, like a child. "What is, is. We gotta fight who we gotta fight. That's what you said."

"It's not me, Peter. It's…" Tony got cut off by Spider-Man almost immediately.

"Yeah, I know… We're just following orders. Doesn't mean I have to like it." Peter groaned and then turned around, walking out of the room. "Goodnight, Tony."

"… Goodnight, Peter." Tony silently turned to Naruto, who had decided to wait for his turn to talk. "What about you, Naruto?"

"I wish I knew how you cope with everything, Tony." Naruto said, observing the Iron-Man with a sad look in his eyes. "I mean, you do realize that many of your friends now hate your guts. You're not stupid, Tony. You're probably the most intelligent man I've ever met."

"… Yes, I do. For many people, I'm a Judas, a traitor. Even more now that an error has caused the death of one of my old friends." Tony replied, a sad smile on his face.

"Then… How? Don't you ever have doubts?" Naruto pressed on, crossing his arms under his chin on the chair he was sitting on.

"Every minute of every day, Naruto, but the point is, someone has to do it. The people on Cap's side think that this thing is going to go away if the wish hard enough or just keep on opposing it, but it's not like that. Even now, I'm softening the blow. Some people in the government would like to outlaw every superhuman in the world. We would be hunted like the plague." Tony continued, and Naruto remembered a couple of events he took part into ever since coming to that world.

"… Like mutants…" Naruto muttered, but it was loud enough for Tony to hear him.

"Exactly, but the point is, that people are stupid. Fear can make you cautious, or it can make you stupid. Most people become stupid. The people who want us hunted down really think that they could kill every single metahuman in the world if they tried." Tony said, laughing darkly. "If they tried it, we would fight back, be assured. And even if they manage to take out some of the weakest of us, they will come to try and eat more that they can take. They would destroy this planet in their effort to destroy us."

"… So, you're protecting both superhumans and normal people? I can understand your spirit of self-sacrifice, but not… I mean, do the means really justify the end, Tony? I mean…" Naruto scratched the back of his head, not really sure what to say. "If we start doing things that the thing we push for should avoid, is it longer worth it?"

"… We'll never reach that point, Naruto." Tony said, his face deadly serious. "That I can assure you. Something like what happened ten days ago will never happen again."

"Hmm… Aaaaaaaaalright. I guess I'll quit the team when we start hiring supervillains. For now, I'll keep on trusting you." Naruto replied with a grin, usual closed eyes, the only thing that saved Tony. At the mention of 'hiring supervillains', his skin had visibly tensed. "So, what time do we get up, tomorrow?"

"Actually… You're not on the roster for the mission tomorrow morning." Naruto blinked confused and then frowned. "It's a delicate and important mission, Naruto, and you're still a bit green regarding escort missions, aren't you? We will be travelling through heavily populated areas."

"Hmmm… Alright, alright. I guess I will just go see Layla or something." Naruto grunted and the pouted childishly, while Tony thought that about the last thing he had to do before calling it a night. Something that, seeing what Naruto said a few seconds before, he wouldn't approve of.

--

"Finally finisheeeeeeeeeed!"

"Jeez, Chase. It's not been that long… Well, just a couple of weeks." Yes. It took a couple of weeks for the Runaways to finally find good super-aliases. When they decided to start the superheroes career, they didn't put much thought in those kind of things because most of them didn't want to be superheroes, deciding to be superheroes just because they felt obliged to clean up Los Angeles because of the power vacuum created by their parents' death. Chase had been the last one to find a suitable name, and as such was the one who showed his relief the most, by stretching and falling on his back on the ground loudly. "Alright. Let's review the things one last time. Molly, you sure you want to go with Power Princess?"

"Of course! I'm strong like Power Man and I got to sleep like the sleeping beauty! It's perfect!" Molly cheered, being probably the only one who had still mental energy to spare after two weeks of brain storming. Nico underlined her namesake for good.

"Alright… I'll go with Black Witch, then. Guess people will think I'm the Scarlet Witch's apprentice or something…" Nico said, underlining her namesake and then allowing herself a vicious smile. "Good. Next, Xavin… You sure you want to go with just 'Xavin'?"

"According to my beloved, it sounds cool as a superalias, and I have no ties to my name that can be used against me anymore." The skrull replied seriously, even if Nico winced internally. How could he be so casual talking about how the planet he was on exploded along with his whole family, she would never understand.

"Alright, alright. Karolina, you're Spectrum. Fitting, I must say… For a techie." Nico joked, only to earn a blush and a grunt from Karolina.

"I turn all the colours of rainbow when I transform. I'd say it's fitting." Nico just let her friend fuming, before turning to the remaining two members of the team.

"Alright, that leaves our two techno-boys. So, Chase… You're Cutwork?" Chase shrugged.

"It fits with how my mind is these days, and after all… Old Lace, Cutwork. Get it?" Chase grinned and then petted his personal dinosaur a bit, much to the reptile's purring. Hey, it was genetic-engineered. Nico rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, alright. And that leaves our Victor, alias, Alloy." Victor nodded.

"Wanted to call myself Hybrid, but it sounded too… Dirty, I don't know. Half robot half human, that's quite an alloy I think, right?" Nico nodded and underlined the last name on the list, before slamming the notepad on a nearside table.

"Alright, it's official. The Runaways have superaliases."

"Good. Now, we have to work on a catchphrase!" Everyone froze hearing Molly's voice, much to the girl's confusion. "What? Now we have superaliases, we need a cool catchphrase!" Nico groaned.

"Molly, we do not…"

"What about, 'Runaways, run'!" Molly said, earning a snort from Chase.

"Yeah, good one, Molly, but we're not supposed to run when there are criminals, you know?" Molly pouted and turned her head to the side. "What about… Runaways, roll out!"

"You've been watching too much Transformers, lately." Victor said, chuckling.

"I pilot a frog-robot and Old Lace reminds me of Dinobot. Bite me."

"What foolish suggestions." Xavin decided to add his two cents. "It should be something to instil fear in our enemies. Like 'Runaways, bring them down'!"

"That's an order, not a catchphrase, honey." Karolina corrected Xavin, while Victor snapped his fingers, a suggestion to his mind.

"I got it! What about…" In the meanwhile, Nico had accidentally summoned the staff of one, since banging her head against the wall had drawn blood.

--

"Damn… This sucks." Naruto, with nothing to do that morning, decided to just spend the morning going through the Avengers' files, and he had just finished going through the files regarding how they 'disassembled' the first time but they weren't complete, seeing how that version of the files didn't contain the why the Scarlet Witch had gone nuts. Also, Layla wasn't answering his calls. "… I wonder if something happened?"

--

"You don't want to have this conversation, Jamie."

"Actually, I think you do, since you could have just turned off the telephone for good, Layla." Jamie peeked inside Layla's room, finding a very distraught girl. Layla had been a lot of things, many times a few at the same time, but he probably had never seen her that distraught. He sat on the bed beside the young girl. "So? What's with you?"

"… I'm scared." Layla said, in a position that didn't really suit her, in Jamie's opinion. Hugging her legs to her chest, and it was the first time he heard her saying that she was scared.

"… What is it?" Jamie put a hand on her left shoulder, trying to comfort her.

"… I still marry you." Jamie froze. When he had found out that Layla and Naruto were dating, one of the things he was more relieved about was the fact that Layla had stopped saying that, but it seemed that it had come back with a vengeance. "I didn't know it for a while, but now… I still marry you, but I don't want to… I don't know, there's something. Things I knew about Naruto and me are disappearing, and I still marry you."

"… God must hate me." Jamie said, feeling an incoming headache. Layla was right when she said that Jamie didn't want to have that conversation, but it seemed like it needed to be had. He sighed and put his hand on her shoulder again. "Layla, remember what happened with Singularity? When they sent an assassin to kill Rictor? You stopped him."

"… Yes. I remember." Layla said, squeezing her legs a bit tighter.

"You said that you can't tell anyone what you know, because otherwise you would be 'struck dead on the spot', but, tell me this: after you stopped the assassin, did you know about the assassin killing Rictor anymore? Could you see it anymore?" Layla shook her head, and then she blinked, having realized something. Jamie smiled. "See what I mean? I think that you have your powers not because you have to follow blindly what you 'know', but to change it, sometimes."

"… So… You think…" Layla slowly turned her head around.

"Hey. You said yourself. We were going to marry, then it disappeared, and now we have to marry again. That's enough proof to me. Now answer the phone." Indeed, the phone had started ringing again. Layla stared at it for a few seconds, before basically lunging at it.

"N-Naruto?"

--

"Layla! Finally! I was starting to get worried, you know?" Naruto had found his drive again, hearing a familiar voice. "Why did you wait so much to answer? You were under the shower or something?"

"… _Something. Sorry."_ Naruto rolled his eyes, seeing an answer like that coming miles away. He sighed in relief nonetheless. _"Are you alright? You didn't get shocked that much by what happened ten days ago?"_

"Nah. Doc Strange stopped me before I did anything apart taking out Thor's clone, so, I'm alright." Naruto grinned, even if Layla couldn't see it over the phone. "By the way, I have a free day, since I'm too green for escort missions." Naruto snarled over the phone at that, earning a chuckle from the girl. "So, got anything to do? It's summer, so, you shouldn't have school. Do you go to school?"

--

"Yes, I'm free. I'll see you in a while, and stop panicking. You didn't do anything wrong." The big sigh of relief coming from the phone earned another chuckle from Layla, much to Jamie's relief. "It's just something that came up. The last days have been stressful for us too, you know."

"_I bet. Well, I'll see you in… Ah."_ Something had came to Naruto's mind, it seemed. Something mischievous. Layla could basically feel him grinning from the other side of the phone. _"Laylaaaaa…"_

"Yeeeeeees?" The girl mocked his voice, much to Madrox's interest.

"_Do you by any chance know Tony Stark's personal code to access private filesssssss? I want to see something, I'm so curioussssssssss…"_

"Curious." Layla sighed, thinking just how fitting it was, and how shocked he was going to be once he opened a certain a few files. "The code is 'Foxtrot-Alpha-Sellers-Hepburn'."

"_I'm going to treat you to the biggest ice-cream ever. I'll see you later."_ With that, Layla closed the call, a smile adorning her features.

"… Thanks, Jamie. I really needed this." The girl said, earning a hair-ruffling from the older mutant. "Especially since I won't be able to hear from him in a while." Jamie stiffened at that.

"… What do you mean, Layla?"

--

"Eheheheh… Layla, you're the best." Naruto opened the program to input the password to access to the restricted files of the Avengers. He entered the four words and the computer displayed 'Access Granted'. "Hoorray! Private intel, here I come!" Naruto was still a child in some aspects of his personality, especially when he was bored.

"Alright, let's see. The Scarlet Witch…"

--

"Look. Look at what your freakin' war has done." In the meanwhile, at the convoy, everything had gone to nine kinds of hell, because of a mix of factors. One, because like Tony had foreseen, Cap had decided to attack the convoy during its transport. Second, because the guys from Yancy Street had decided to help him by creating deviations and then such. Third, because the Thinker and the Puppet Master had taken advantage of the situation, and had decided that a little slaughter was due, thanks to a bomb planted by a mind-controlled kid of the neighborhood. It wasn't a slaughter. Only one person died. "He was just a kid!" It doesn't make the situation any less tragic, especially in the eyes of one Ben Grimm, as he holds in his arms the lifeless body of 'Cee', his shouts stopping the other heroes before they started pummelling each other again.

"I barely knew him, but he had parents, he had a life, he had a future…" He slowly walked to his friends and gently handed them the body, his sturdy body looking almost fragile in the care he handled it. "And you took all of that away from him!" Enraged, he then turned around to direct his full rage at the other 'heroes'. "Don't you see what you're doing?! DON'T YOU SEE THAT YOU'RE TEARING APART EVERYTHING THAT MAKES THIS PLACE WORTH FIGHTING FOR?!" He stomped his feet and raised his voice even more, his big arms pointing at the fires, the wreckage, the craters around him. "LOOK AROUND! TAKE A GOOD FREAKING LOOK AROUND!"

"That's why we need you, old friend… To stop this madness." Cap replied, seemingly oblivious for once to the sense of someone's speech. "With your strength, we can…"

"No." Iron-Man cut him off, but his intentions weren't that different, it seemed. "The law needs you on our side, Ben. You know this. You've always been on the right side of the a fight. If you want the fighting to stop, then help out, don't talk about it."

"You can make the difference, Ben. You can tip the balance." Daredevil decided to join the conversation as well. "The whole world is watching. What're you going to do? What do you say?"

"I say ta hell with both of you." Ben replied, his voice now lower, but not less angry. They just didn't understand. All that fighting distracted them from what was really important. "I've been thinking about it fer a long time, but this has made my mind up for me. Registration's wrong, and I won't support a law I don't believe in. But I'm still a patriot, I'm not gonna fight my own government, or let the government say I'm a criminal. So, the way I see it, that leaves me only one choice." Ben straightened his back, and began to turn around, and then he walked away from the two groups, their stares on him. "I'm checking outta the country. Don't bother leavin' a light on. I may not come back."

--

"We have to talk."

"I think we're a little past talking now, don't you think, Reed?" Meanwhile, another half of the Fantastic Four was having their own situation regarding the SRA, since Sue had just helped a captured superhuman that Reed was transferring to the negative zone through his own personal portal escape the Baxter Building.

"Sue, don't you think they'll be able to figure out you turned her invisible so she could escape?" Maybe not, since Reed was the only one who had seen a mirror break in an otherwise vacant room, but, hey, there were surveillance cameras.

"I don't care. I saw an opportunity to do something and I took it." Sue's stubbornness was one of the things that Reed loved in his wife.

"To break the law, you mean." But now, it wasn't the best quality to have.

"The law." Sue said those two words with venom, disgust. "Taking people we know, people we've fought beside, and sending them off to that hellhole you and Stark built in the negative zone because they won't register with the government."

"That's right." Reed's reply was immediate.

"Then the law is wrong." Sue's one was even faster.

"Fine, then change it. But until you can do that, we obey it." Reed said, a bit of exasperation, because he didn't think he would have to have this kind of speech with Sue. She wasn't her brother, she was a grown, intelligent woman. "That's what we do, remember?"

"So you're just following orders, is that it?" Sue said, angry, because she didn't think that her husband would ever use that excuse to justify something he did. "Isn't that what they said when the nazi took whole sections of the population they didn't like, jews and gypsies and troublemakers, and herded them into cattle cars for train rides to places like Auschwitz and Treblinka? As a matter of fact, isn't that a whole lot like what you're doing?"

Reed visibly tensed, because what Sue had just said is one of the worst things you can say to someone, no matter why or to who. His body instinctively clenched one of his hands to a fist, which was brought to eye level. Sue of course noticed this, so unlike Reed. "You've just made a fist, Reed." Which he instantly brought back down, almost ashamed of himself. "Use it, put it away, or I'll take it off the wrist."

"We are not. Talking about this. Anymore." Reed replied, raising his fist again but stretching its index finger. "We are done."

"You've got that right." Sue said, as Reed turned around, his mind set that they weren't going to talk about it anymore. "I think of all the enemies we've faced, the people who've tried to split us, and not one of them could do it. Nothing could. Except you. Except this." Mrs Richards had other ideas. "I don't know any more, Reed. So I have to ask… Did I ever know you?"

"I'm doing this for the same reason I've ever done anything, Sue! Because it's the law! Because it's right!" Reed wasn't one to easily enrage, but it happened from time to time.

"It's not right, can't you see that?!" Sue was easier to enrage, but not for that less potent in her rage.

"Damn it, listen to me!" Even to Sue's reluctance, Reed grabbed her left wrist. "Can't you understand, Sue?! I'm doing this because I'm trying to protect you!"

"…" Silence. A stunned silence reigned for a few seconds. "Protect me?" These words were a whisper. A nice contradictory to the very loud noise that Sue made when she slammed a cylindrical shaped force field through every single floor and ceiling of every single floor of the Baxter building, above and below her figure. Reed didn't get his hand cut off at the wrist because Sue had had the decency to make the field visible. "DO I LOOK LIKE I NEED PROTECTING, REED?! DO I?!"

Reed fell silent and stunned at his wife's rage, who wasn't going to let him off the bat easily, it seemed. "Don't use me to try and justify the fact that you're afraid to go up against your own government! Because you've gotten so used to following the rules that you don't know how to do anything else! Because you don't want to lose what you've worked so hard to rebuild!"

"…" Reed turned his head to the side for a few seconds, in thought, before turning around again to face Sue. "And is that so terribly wrong, Sue? Is it?"

"Yes, Reed, it is." Mr Fantastic lowered his head and his gaze, and then turned around till he was giving the Invisible Woman his back. "Sometimes the law is wrong. Sometimes the government is wrong. When that happens, you have to stand up and speak out. Even if you're alone. Especially if you're alone." Sue continued to talk, his tone lowered, now admonishing and teaching, like a mother with her son. "The question you have to ask is not what you have to do to protect me, or your position, or us. The question is… What are the rights and freedoms we say we cherish worth? Because I think they're worth dying for if necessary."

"…" Reed still didn't say anything, pacing slowly around the same spot, making few steps, more of a rotation on an axis than walking.

"I would have done anything for you, Reed. I would have… I have…" No bullshitting, it really happened, once. "Walked through hell itself, and never looked back, as long as I knew you were at the other end, waiting for me."

"Then why won't you stay with me now?" Reed finally decided to ask, seeing an opening. "Work through this with me?"

"…" It was Sue time to be dominated by silence for a few seconds. "Because you're not Reed. Because you're not the man I married, the man I loved. I loved him because he always did what was right… And he was never… Never afraid of anything."

"…" Reed thought about those words, thought about what Sue just implied, what she just declared, what a wife just told to her husband, and she couldn't find anything to say but… "I think you should leave now." A single lone tear fell from Sue's right eye, followed by many other ones as she followed Reed's words and started to fly away thanks to another one of her force field, leaving a man, alone, broken, suffering, who found his asylum in what he did better.

"Repair cost estimate: seven hundred and twenty-five thousand dollars." _Just think about the numbers. Don't think about the rest. You can't. You can't. You cant. She's wrong. She'll see that. She'll understand. She always does. She'll come back… Please let her come back._

--

"This… Is… Freaky." Naruto had just gone through the whole file about the Scarlet Witch, and consequently about Quicksilver and Magneto. The girl had a terrible power and couldn't control it, and the grief about discovering that she had forgot about her 'children', made her go crazy. "Damn… I really feel sorry for that. To go crazy to that point, one must feel really, really alone…" Naruto was still bored, and looking at the hour, still 9:38 AM, realized that he had a bit of time left, and on top of that, even if what he had read had really shocked him, it was really interesting. He looked for the most recently opened files. "Number 52 and… Project Thunderbolts." He opened the latter first.

--

"Hmmm… This is boring." The guard groaned, and his companion nodded in agreement.

"Yeah. Guarding a closed door… I mean, they've been nanited and they're not going to move from inside here anytime soon. What's the point of guarding a two billion dollars security door?" They said, right before they were knocked out by two blows to the back of their heads.

"… This is…" Naruto's body had moved in automatic ever since he had finished reading Tony's private files. The Project Thunderbolts file, more precisely. Along with a list of the 'participants', there had been other details. For example, that the 'hive' was in the lower levels of Avengers Tower. Also, in another file, he had found out the password to disable the various security cameras along the path. That was how he had managed to get away with disabling two S.H.I.E.L.D. agents. That, and transforming in a fly. He really needed to train more if Deadpool was upstaging him on ninja techniques. "… Behind this door…"

"_If we start doing things that the thing we push for should avoid, is it longer worth it?"_

"… _We'll never reach that point, Naruto. That I can assure you. Something like what happened ten days ago will never happen again."_

"_Hmm… Aaaaaaaaalright. I guess I'll quit the team when we start hiring supervillains. For now, I'll keep on trusting you."_

The Thunderbolts Project file had details about the super-team in Colorado. Super-villains that were trying to redeem themselves by being superheroes, but most of the file was about the project brought up by Tony and the others. "The pad should be… Here." Right beside the door, a pad with numerical buttons. Naruto had taken a few minutes going down there mostly because he had trouble memorizing a 32 digits password that he had to get on the first try.

The last digit triggered a series of things. First, an electronic voice that confirmed that he hadn't triggered any alarm and the door was opening. Second, the door opened, and for the life of him he couldn't understand where the smoke was coming from. He waited for the scenic effect to clear before walking inside. The lights turned on. He was inside a large circular room, with white floor mats, and everything seemed pretty bare and normal around him… That was, till he looked up. "… Holy…"

He had seen something similar during a tour in the intelligence section of Konoha ANBU headquarters, and for tour, he meant pranking them. He had accidentally stumbled in a room where a wall was completely filled with bottles filled with body parts. Nothing bigger than a nail, they were probably for tracking. This was similar.

Starting from three meters above the ground, there were lots and lots of people enveloped, floating inside globes that seemed made out of glass, but he knew better. Who knew what kind of material Tony and Reed had created.

"**Well, loo****k what the tide has brought in. A runt."** Naruto flinched, hearing the voice. He slowly turned around and raised his head to look at the owner of the deep voice. He had never heard a voice like that. It sounded strange. Dark, evil, malicious… No. He had heard a similar one before. It sounded like the light coke of Kyuubi. Also, while the Kyuubi was mostly red, this one individual was mostly back, and with the sickest looking tongue he had ever seen. Not even Orochimaru gave him the creeps like that, with his tongue. Maybe because he didn't have such a row of teeth. **"Hey, I think I heard about you. You're Stark's latest boy-toy."**

"… And you are…" Naruto's memory begun to go through the super-database he had read, and found the file about seemingly the only conscious person in the whole room. He put his hands in a single handseal, and suddenly his enlarged person burst through the cloud of smoke, standing face to face with the villain. "Matt Gargan. Ex-Scorpion, now Venom. Person who kicked the most your butt in, Spider-Man."

"**Hmph. You sure have a way with words, boy. Is this how you talk to older people?"** Venom joked, to which Naruto answered with a hard stare.

"And you sure have a way with murder." Naruto replied, gritting his teeth. Not because of the body count of the guy he was observing, but because he knew what his presence, and the presence of the other people in the room implied. He gritted his teeth in anger.

"… **Ahahahah! This is precious! You didn't know, did you?!**** Now that I think about it, you're probably the only Avenger I haven't seen down here yet!"** The mass-murderer laughed, realizing just why Naruto seemed to be so angry and yet he wasn't glaring at him. **"Yeah, sorry to burst your bubble, but the 'lawful' side of the equation is actually holding famous serial-killers under Avenger Towers, pumping them full of nanites and waiting to unleash them on the 'rebels'."**

"… Nanites…" Naruto had read about that as well.

"**They keep us on a leash, and when we're not needed, we've put to sleep. We get to be awake just to eat and take a dump. 'Inhuman', isn't it?"** Gargan laughed some more in Naruto's face.

"… Why are you awake?" The blonde said, trying to find something to grab onto to save at least a bit of the image he had of Tony in his mind.

"**Alien symbiote. It tends to alter your metabolism, among other things. You should have seen the diet my nutritionist laid out before I ate her."** One more laugh, and Naruto instinctively slammed one of his punches against the containment bubble of the villain, earning more laughter from him.

"… Tony, what the hell have you been drinking?" Naruto didn't know that Tony had become abstemious months before, sadly.

--

"Half of the people we captured got away." The brawl had ended with that count. Fortunately, they had managed to at least keep them from keeping Wiccan under chains, so that they wouldn't gain back another teleporter.

"We will get them back, Peter." Tony said, as he and Peter entered Avenger Towers via the front door, for once. It was quite a policy of Tony: show themselves in their costumed identities to their employers once in a while, to make them feel more at ease and expand their fanbase. He removed his helmet. "Sooner or later."

"Yeah… I still don't… Uh?" Peter removed his mask as well, just in time to see Naruto going out of a lift, in civilian clothes, with a pissed off look on his face and a bag on his right shoulder. The same bag he had arrived with, he seemed to recall. "Isn't that our blonde ninja?"

"Naruto? What…" Tony had seen many times that kind of look on many people's faces, and he had never liked it, mostly because they always led to harsh, hasty decisions. He approached him as fast as his armor let him. "Naruto, what are you doing?"

"Get lost." Naruto said, walking right by him. Tony turned around and put a hand on his right shoulder.

"Naruto, just what…"

"32768983740971235673890735613980." Naruto stopped for the few seconds that he needed to speak the code and make sure that Tony heard him, then he resumed walking, leaving a stunned Iron-Man just behind him. He walked outside and he walked past two people, pushing through them almost violently.

"Hey! Watch where you're going, you… Uh?"

"Naruto?" The ninja stopped, hearing a familiar voice. He turned around and he met the masked clad of Cassie, alias Stature.

"… Cassie?" He said, as to confirm his thoughts with words. "What are you doing here?"

"We… I decided to register." Cassie said, and Naruto lowered his head, not knowing what to say to her. Just an hour before he would have probably been happy, but now, he really didn't know. "What's with the bag? You're going somewhere?"

"… Somewhere." It was all that he could muster. He turned around and begun walking again, away from Avengers Tower, away from Cassie. Away from the 'right side' of the fight.

--

"Damn it. We couldn't get Wiccan."

"His transport was probably delayed for this occurrence. They knew that Wiccan is a big tactical asset for us." Cap also knew though that to his youngest soldiers Wiccan wasn't just an 'asset'. He was a friend, and a boyfriend.

"… First they capture Wiccan, then Cassie leaves us." Kate said, sighing heavily as they went back to their hideout, finding the Vision still hooked up to the various monitors. "Vision, how is it going? Did Cassie reach Stark Tower?"

"Yes. It was not the only significant event of the day, though." The Vision replied, earning a look of curiosity from the people who had just came back. "I think this will interest you as well, captain."

"What is it?" Rogers said, taking a few steps in the direction of the monitors as the Vision replayed what the surveillance cameras of Stark Tower's entrance had recorded. Naruto stumbling upon Cassie and Nighthawk on his way out, and Steve immediately recognized what was going on from his attire and attitude. Civilian clothes, a big bag strapped over his shoulder, and the words he had exchanged with Stature. "… Seems like Militia… Defected."

"Eh?! For real?! Vision, play that again!" Speed run in front of Cap just as he finished talking, followed by his teammates, while Captain observed Naruto's face. Even from a recorded image, he could see that the boy was now confused, unsure. He probably just felt that he had to get out of the tower, but he hadn't thought about what he would do later.

"… Patriot." Cap turned around, to find the black skinned young man saluting him, an instinctual reaction to the tone he had used. "I have a mission for you."

--

"… I really am an idiot." Naruto groaned as he bit into his burger once more, chewing on it slowly. _Alright with the rightful rage, but I could have at least asked someone to drop me at the Xavier's first… Nah, I wouldn't have. I made that big of a scene when I went away, how the hell will I be able to face them now? I haven't accomplished anything._ "Good thing I had some money with me." Naruto had just found out that he really, really didn't like eating alone. Most of the time he had lunch and dinner at Ichiraku it wasn't because of the ramen, as delicious as it was, but it was mostly because of the old man and his daughter. He was alone most of the day, at least when he ate he liked being in someone else's company. Also, it was incredible how sitting alone in a place full of people enhanced the feeling of loneliness.

After getting out of Stark Tower he had wandered for New York city for a while, realizing just how big the place was. It was much bigger and much more chaotic than Konoha, and he easily got lost. The walk cleared his head, though. He had just left the only place he was familiar with in the whole world along with Xavier's that was a good few kilometres away from New York, with little money and his few possessions. While eating at a providential Mac, he realized that he had no idea of what to do. He had found out that his side of the war wasn't as clean as he had believed, but what could he do? "… I guess it really is back to school for me."

"Can we seat here? Thank you." A tray was slammed in front of Naruto before he could even raise his head, thing that made him frown.

"Hey, what's the big…" Naruto blinked in surprise, recognizing the couple in front of him, mostly because of Tommy. He had met two people in his whole life with white hair that hadn't hit sixty years old. "… Tommy?"

"Nah, his twin brother. Oh, west fries! Let me try those!" Of course he couldn't stop him. Super-speed and all that. He sighed and turned his head to the girl sitting by him.

"Since he's caught up with fast-food delicacies, you'll be the one I'll talk to. What are you doing here, Kate?" Naruto turned his head around and saved what he could with his hands, earning a chuckle from the sunglasses wearing girl.

"Nothing much. Why, can't teenage heroes have a burger once in a while?" She said, to which Naruto reacted by rolling his eyes.

"Not wanted teenage heroes, no. So, I guess that if you're not here for the burgers, you're here for me." Naruto said, sticking a single fry in his mouth. "How the hell did you get wind of what happened to me this quickly? It happened like, at 1 PM. Eight hours ago."

"We'll explain later. The thing is, there's someone who wants to meet you now that you're… Available." Kate said, and Naruto groaned at how much she had made that sound like someone asking for a date indirectly. "So… What do you say?"

"… Oh, hell. As long as Tommy stops STEALING ALL MY DAMN FRIES!" That stopped him alright, as the whole fast food turned in his direction, cue the two Young Avengers covering their faces. To not get recognized or in shame, they didn't know. Kate nonetheless activated her long-range microphone on her right ear.

"Here's Kate. He agreed."

--

"Whoah!"

"It happens to everyone the first time they go through Tyrone's cloak." Kate said as Naruto looked positively distraught seeing how he hardly got out on his feet by the teleport via Cloak.

"No, it's not that. It's just…" Naruto had already had a taste of the Darkforce dimension's power. "It felt familiar…"

"Oh, I seem to have made quite an impression…" Naruto immediately tensed when he felt a hand on his head. He had almost forgot about that. He tensed even more as two more hands fell on his head, and he slowly turned around to meet the stares of the B.A.D. Girls. "Well, very few people forget how my powers feel, after all…"

"… Please don't hurt me?" He had left those three girls broken in a lake of their own blood, because of something he had done… Well, more or less. Because of something he had in him, actually. It still was his body, so he guessed that it would be normal for them to want a little payback. And he had seen angry girls.

"Awww, look at him, so scared!" Diamondback suddenly enveloped his head in a wrestling lock, and started to rub her knuckles on his scalp.

"AAAAAAARGH! I'MSORRYI'MSORRYI'MSOR… Wait, I'm not bleeding?" Sure it hurt, but there was no stabbing, maiming or skin flaying involved. It was Asp's turn to chuckle.

"You think we've never been hurt before? Diamondback lost count of the bones she broke while training with Cap." She then kneeled in front of him. "But you do owe us a rematch, one of these days. No alternate personalities involved, alright?"

"Ehm… Sure?" He said, unsure of how exactly he had managed to get away from it.

"Don't you remember the messages I had to give you?" Kate said, chuckling behind an open hand at the visage of the blonde ninja reduced to a blushing and stuttering mess by the three older women. They were getting their payback, indeed.

"Now that I think about it… Oh, h-hey, Patriot! How's it going?" Naruto found the first excuse he could to get out of the three women's clutches, since Asp had started making these strange squeezing motions with her hands that he didn't like.

"Good. Well, so, what did happen to you? We saw you leave Avengers Tower in a hurry." The leader of the Young Avengers said as Naruto took a seat at his same table.

"Ah…" Now, Naruto was torn by doubt. Tony had been good to him, even if what he had discovered had made him really upset, but could he spill the beans about it? _… No. I owe him at least that much._ "Sorry, can't say. Just know that it's something that you won't like either."

"Ever the mysterious… Or do you still feel some loyalty to Tony even after what you saw?" Patriot continued, having seen through Naruto as clear as day.

"… So and so." Naruto scratched the bridge of his nose, a little embarrassed at how clear he seemed to the other young hero. "Well… So, you said that someone wanted to talk to me. Do I take a guess or are you going to just tell me?"

"You just have to turn around, Militia." Naruto immediately tensed, recognizing the voice. He hadn't heard it in a while, the last time being when the person had come to rescue the three girls that were torturing him a few seconds before from him, and the effect it carried with it hadn't faded. It still carried authority, charisma, strength. How could someone put all those things in his voice, even in such few words, he couldn't fathom, he couldn't understand. He just obeyed and turned around to meet the visage of Captain America. "Or do you prefer Naruto?"

"Well… You can call me anything you like, Captain." The blonde ninja said, getting back on his feet. He felt compelled to let him do and say what he wanted, he realized. He had heard of men like this once in his life, he knew how they were called: natural born leaders. The reply got a smile from the shield-bearing hero.

"Naruto will do, then." Steve nodded and Naruto got up from his seat, shuffling uneasily from one feet to the other. The attention of the entire room was on Cap and consequently on him.

"So… You wanted to talk to me?" Steve nodded and turned in the direction of a corridor.

"Yes. Let's move to a more private place."

--

"… Wow."

"People often do not take the time to look out of their window anymore, or just get used to a sight. To me, it is always heart-moving." Naruto didn't know how but he and Cap had ended up on top of a roof on a fairly tall building with a sight on the downtown of NewYork that, for once, looked peaceful. "I think back of my time and find that not many things have changed, and when for once I don't hear sirens or screams of help… That's the kind of atmosphere I would always want to feel."

"… Peace forever and ever… If you like peace at night, you would like my hometown, then." Naruto said with a grin. "We don't have any criminality, now that I think about it, and every single person in the village is employed. The only times something goes awry is when someone goes rogue."

"Yes… You told on live television that your homeworld is basically an agglomerate of military organizations, right?" Steve said, putting his left leg forward over the parapet of the roof, in a pretty cool pose, in Naruto's opinion.

"A military organization…" Naruto said, rubbing his chin. "I never thought of Konoha like that, I must say. It has always been home to me… Even with the way I was treated."

"You were treated… Wrongly?" Steve asked, detecting a bit of sadness in Naruto's words.

"… You remember what I did back at the refinery? The tails thing? How I can lose control?" Naruto didn't need to see Cap nod to know that he understood what he was talking about, even if he didn't know that Steve had known about it only thanks to Vision's recordings, since he was pretty much out of it at the time of his transformation. "Well, my whole village but the people my age and younger know about it. And most resent me for that."

"They hate you for something that wasn't under your control… And yet I can hear that you care for your home. It's very selfless." Cap commented, to which Naruto answered with a simple nod of his head.

"Well… With all his faults, it's still my home. The place where my heroes have been born and grown, and where the few people who cared about me live. With time I made more friends, and with more time…" Naruto smiled fiercely at that, determination literally making his eyes shine. "I will become its protector, its leader. Hokage."

"… I believe you will achieve your dream." Naruto's eyes widened and he turned his head to face Steve again, who just replied with a smile.

"Y-You believe in me so easily? Just like that?" Naruto was shocked and it was easy to understand why, knowing his life. Even though he kept on telling everyone he knew about his dream, the people who had said that they believed in it, believed that he could succeed and told him out loud were less than five. And yet, this man, probably the most charismatic leader he had ever met or even heard of had just told him after talking with him just a few minutes. "I mean… Why?!"

"… In the few occasions we've met you've shown me that you possess many traits, Naruto. The first time, you showed me dedication and compassion." Naruto remembered it. It was when he had been cleaning up Stamford non-stop for three days from debris and corpses, saving and comforting survivors. That little girl… How many days was that he didn't check his e-mail? "The second time, you've shown me respect and honour."

He had tried to take out the B.A.D. girl without hurting them, without using his full power not to look good or flaunt it, but because he didn't believe in a victory taken by breaking his enemy. He had renounced in turning them in when he realized what he had let it happen not to not look bad in front of Tony, but because he had let that kind of victory happen. "Now, you've shown me selflessness and determination. Those are all the qualities of great men. Men who will make their dreams come true."

"But… I mean, the Hokage is the strongest ninja in the village. Power… Doesn't it matter?" Naruto said.

"Power to make real your dreams is achieved in the process. Power to protect, power to defend, power to fight back. Power it's a collateral of the path to your dream, not a prerequisite." Rogers immediately replied, turning completely to Naruto, who suddenly felt like he was face to face with a mountain made out of pure charisma. "As long as you pursue and believe in your dream, as long as you are willing to fight for it, you will achieve the power to do so. 'Your worst obstacle is yourself'. People believe this sentence to be a stereotype, almost a joke, but it's one of the truer concepts ever conceived."

"…" Naruto slowly fell on the ground till his butt was one thing with the ground, feeling completely overwhelmed. He now fully understood the magnitude of Captain America's persona. Then, he groaned. "Damn, now you'll make me feel bad when I refuse to join your side."

"I guessed as much." Naruto blinked, surprised again. Captain America just smiled. "If you changed your mind that easily, I wouldn't even try to ask."

"Ehm… Thanks, I guess? But seriously, I don't want to join your side. I mean…" Naruto rubbed his chin in thought, thinking carefully about what he wanted to explain. "I still believe that the Registration is necessary. Only…" He lowered his eyes and gripped his hands. "They way Tony is doing it… It's just not right."

"It's not only the way, Naruto. It's also something else. Something more practical and at the same time more dangerous." That took Naruto's interest. "It's something though, that I think it would be better if you got on your own."

"… How?" Naruto said, seriously confused.

"Think. Reflect. Compare. Think about your world more closely, and think about the differences between your world and this one." Cap said, getting in a normal standing position again, turning to the door they had come out of a few minutes before. "Then, I think the answer will become clear to you."

"… Cap… Wouldn't you give talking with Tony a chance?" That stopped Cap dead on his tracks, making him lower his gaze and frown slightly.

"We're way past that point." The shield-bearing man replied.

"Says who? I mean, if you just…"

"Even if I wanted to, deciding to blindly ignore what happened the first time he 'offered' me that chance, I fear Tony now shares my own thoughts." Cap interrupted Naruto, who sighed profusely. "We're way past talking."

"… I understand." _Even if Tony wasn't completely honest, I feel that if they indeed talk, they could find a way out of this._ Naruto got back on his feet and walked to Cap's right side.

"What are you going to do, now?" Steve said, to which Naruto replied with a shrug of his shoulders.

"Well, Tony is probably searching for me, but I don't feel like meeting him at all, right now. So, I guess I will follow your suggestion and think about this situation a bit. So, I guess I will need somewhere quiet… Ah." Naruto snapped his fingers. "Cap, can you do me a favour?"

"What is it?" Naruto replied with a big grin.

"I need a teleport to Los Angeles."

_Continue…_

_In the next chapter…_

Naruto takes a break from the Civil War along with a group that wants nothing to do with it: the Runaways. Between having fun, Naruto thinks about his world and he starts to realize that he may have made a big judgment error. But exactly on what? Stay tuned.


	25. Civil War IX

Alright. First thing, I wish you a merry Christmas and a happy new year, my dear readers. Further author's notes are voiced by the characters in this year's Christmas special. :) Hope you like it. With no further ado, enjoy!

**No Reading**

**Chapter 24: You've got to study history**

"C-Come on, boy. Don't be crazy! You're young, you have all your life waiting for you!"

"For the last time, I'm just waiting for a lift!" Naruto was starting to get annoyed. Once he had been dropped by Cloak in Los Angeles, he had given Nico a call. After getting Molly settled down and stopped her from stealing the phone, she had told him to wait for a lift on top of the skyscraper in Los Angeles' fox plaza. Only thing, someone had noticed him standing on top of it in the usual position for an intended suicide and was now trying to 'stop him'. Good thing he was too occupied to call for anyone else.

"P-Please don't jump! Otherwise I'm sure I will have to go into therapy! I'm just sure of it!"

"Geez… Selfish bastard. I should… Uh?" Naruto noticed something down the skyscraper, and he understood what they meant with a lift. "Ah, here's my lift! Goodbye!" Said that, Naruto stepped out and dropped off the skyscraper.

"NOOOOOOOOOOO! IT'S BACK TO THERAPY!"

--

"Damn. What was that? A wormhole? I'm impressed, magical girl."

"Keep teasing me, will you?" It had appeared out of the wormhole she had created just for an instant, and already she wanted to hit him.

"Yahi! You're back!" Molly didn't seem to share her sentiments, it seemed, if the flying glomp was any indication.

"Hey! Watch it with your superstrength!" For real. His ribs were in serious danger, if the crack from where Molly had hugged him was any indication.

"Hey, welcome back." Victor waved at him from the back of the room, and Naruto waved back weakly. "So, the call came as a real surprise. What brings you on the west coast?"

"… Well…" Naruto expected that question, and it seemed that Molly had noticed how serious he had suddenly become, her hug lessening in strength. "Something happened, and I had to get away from the 'Civil War'… To run away from it. I need time to think."

"… Eh." Nico suddenly gently tapped him on the head with the top of her staff. "Seems like we have an honorary member."

"Yes! Can I show him around, Nico?! Pleasepleaseplease!" The hug was broken, but the strength with which the young mutant was pulling him was not indifferent either, if Naruto's cringing was any indication.

"You can, but I suggest…"

"YEAH!"

"AHHHH! MY SHOULDER! YOU'RE DISLOCATING MY SHOULDER!"

"… You lay off with the superstrength." The goth girl sighed. Molly had gone and disappeared with her victim in hand before she could finish. Too bad for Naruto, she guessed, but a little payback was in order, though.

--

"And then we've chosen our team cry! 'Runaways, together!'"

"I know that it breaks the fourth wall in some way, but I'm not enough Deadpool yet to understand how." Naruto had been showed around by Molly indeed, and it seemed like after the incident in the cave the Runaways had decided to relocate somewhere else, as in, under some kind of museum's boiling mud pit or something. To correct Naruto, it's the La Brea Musem's tar pits, and it's their parents' old hideout. "So… Nice place, I must say. Better than the last one."

"Nice to see it meets your approval." Naruto turned around and welcomed Karolina's present with a warm smile and a hug. "It's good to see you again."

"You too… Ehm, is your girlfriend still angry with me for the Oiroke incident?"

"Eheheh… A bit." Karolina said, releasing Naruto from a hug. "How much are you going to stay in town?"

"Well… A few days, I think. I need to clear my head and think carefully about what I'm doing before going back into the fray."

"Ahh… A retreat. Understood." Karolina said, smiling again to Naruto.

"So… What is one to do in Los Angeles to have fun?"

--

"Weeeeh!"

"… Does she get excited that easily? It's… I mean, I know it's Molly we're talking about, but… It's a teacup ride…" First stop, Disneyland. Nico had really started to use her powers better. She had cast a spell on the whole group to make them look like a different person, and to make sure to be able to re-use it, she had described in detail each and everyone of their new personas. Also, she had specified that they would appear differently to everyone but themselves and their friends.

"It's mainly because this is the first time she has come near Disneyland at all." Nico replied, taking a bit of her cotton candy. "Her parents were two mind-reading mutants. That just screams 'no-nonsense parents'… That, or she's just that hyper."

"Hmmm… I guess…" Naruto put in his mouth some more sweet popcorn as they watched Molly 'wee' more and more. The group had split up after a discussion about which attractions to ride, and he and Nico had been stuck up with Molly-sitting. After three rides on the teacups, they decided to let her go on her own. "… So, how did having supercriminals as parents work for you?"

"For the first sixteen years of my life, pretty good, since I wasn't aware of it. Then we discovered that they wanted to sacrifice the whole world to a triad of demons and turn us six into the new Adams and Eves of the new world… Well, not really. The point is, things went downhill from there." Nico replied, licking her fingers to clean them from the stickiness.

"Six…" Naruto began to count in his mind while holding the contained of the popcorn upside down over his open mouth. Nico, Molly, Chase, Victor, Karolina, Xavin. The number fit. "I wonder how Xavin's parents were."

"… Victor and Xavin were later addictions to our group." Naruto turned to Nico again, crunching and swallowing the last mouthful of popcorn. "The original six were me, Molly, Chase, Karolina… Alex and Gert."

"… What happened to the other two?"

"… Alex betrayed us. He actually wanted to go along with his parents' plans. We managed to stop them just thanks to a stroke of luck and inner fighting… And Alex bit the dust. He deserved it, but still…" Naruto kept on staring at Nico. "Gert was the previous owner of Old Lace. She died when… Alex's young dad from the past came into our present and made a mess of everything. She died in the process, and passed ownership of her dinosaur to Chase."

"… I'm sorry, I…" Naruto crashed the container of the popcorn in his hands and threw it away, miraculously making it land in a far away trash can. "I didn't know."

"It's alright. We miss Gert, but… We've got to endure." Nico said, finishing her cotton candy and starting to lick the wooden stick, much to Naruto's flushing. She did some fine things with her tongue, and she was shamelessly doing it in public. A 50 years old woman doing that would look creepy indeed. "So… What about you?"

"… I've never known my parents. They probably died the night I was born. Big ugly demon attacking my village and all." Nico cringed. "The strange thing, though… It's that I've never managed to get a hold of their names, nor a picture of them… Nothing, and I don't have a single living relative either, it seems. Even for bad luck, that's too much, don't you think? Ever since I got this treatment that let me got all my memories back… Well, I think they were some kind of special ninjas or something, because there's no way that someone wouldn't at least have heard of them. Maybe they just kept it hidden from me out of spite…"

"Spite? For a child?" Nico threw the wooden stick to the floor, while Naruto nodded, crossing his arms in front of his chest.

"You know that red energy? It's the energy of a demon that's sealed in my belly. Most powerful one of my world." Nico's eyes widened at that. "It seems that the only way to keep it under control was to seal it in a newborn child. The night I was born."

"… The demon that attacked your village… And that probably killed your parents too?" Naruto nodded.

"And a lot of other people. They needed a scapegoat for their rage and sadness… And they chose the container of the demon." Naruto shook his head, smiling sadly. "I guess that when I go back home, that's another thing I will need to address."

"… I suppose. Even if my parents were scumbags…" Nico put a hand on her left arm, not believing what she was about to admit. "Well, they loved me and I loved them… Before knowing what they wanted to do with the world. I just… I can't imagine what it's like not having someone to call your relative."

"… Darn, now you're in the sad phase." Naruto then put a hand on Nico's head, much to her confusion. "Damn you and your PMS. Want a hug, emo witch?"

"… See if I worry about you anymore, jerk." The goth girl blushed and pushed him away.

"There's no need to do it. Even if we have no family…" He turned his gaze to the teacup ride, which had stopped, to see Molly running towards the two of them. Nico followed his gaze and smiled. "We have a lot of good friends, do we not?"

"… Yes, we do."

"Hey! What are you standing around for?! I want to go in the haunted hotel, now!"

--

While Naruto was relaxing and thinking about how lucky he was to have friends, back in New York, two other superheroes were redefining the terms of their relationship.

"Peter, you're acting like a lunatic. Why can't we just sit down and discuss this like grown-ups?"

"Because there's nothing to discuss, Tony. I'm leaving the Avengers." Ever since Peter had joined the Avengers, Tony had took the Spider-Man under his wing, impressed by his rare intelligence and genius. Too bad that then came the Civil War. "I don't have a problem with working with S.H.I.E.L.D.! But locking heroes in the negative zone for life? The cyborg killing Bill Foster like that? C'mon, man! You're in over your head!"

"What are you talking about? Even though Thor reacted like a police officer would, don't forget that Bill Foster was a friend of mine. You really think we're going to let something like that happen again?" Tony knew it was too early for Peter to see the negative zone prison, but he had asked, sadly. "What do you suggest we do with the unregistered super-people? Lock them up with regular prisoners, maybe in Ryker's? They would be out again in five minutes."

Tony was completely missing the point, though, since what had irked Peter was that they had been imprisoned for life just for not signing, and without even having had a regular process. They were supposed to abide by the law, and yet they were twisting it around as they pleased for their ends. "What you need to appreciate is that there are forces with S.H.I.E.L.D. and the government who would like nothing more than to absolutely outlaw all superhumans! The compromise we offered them was regulating our behavior! Because going back to the good old days was never on the table, Peter!"

"Get out of my way…" He just didn't get it, did he? He knew all that, he just didn't care if the price was that.

"Don't be a fool! Do you really think you can just go back to your old life now that everyone knows who you are? This isn't just about you anymore! What about May? What about Mary Jane?" That was when Spiderman punched the Iron Man through a wall, shattering concrete and wood… In a skyscraper?

"Aunt May and Mary Jane are as far away as possible." Tony shook his head, since it seemed that talking would take them nowhere. He charged his repulsor blasts and aimed.

"I'm disappointed in you, Peter…" He fired again and again, but Peter just kept on dodging and heading towards a window while syllabising the sentence 'Not as disappointed as I am in myself…'. That was when Peter discovered that the glass wasn't that breakable, as he found face out face first. "Avengers headquarters. Reinforced glass. Now…"

"Stand back, mister Stark! We've got him!" Then the S.H.I.E.L.D. team broke in and opened fire, effectively shattering the glass and sending Peter flying outside.

"Stop! Hold your fire!" Too late. Peter was already falling towards the ground. "Dammit." Tony went and chased after him.

--

"Wow…"

"What? You've never seen a beach?"

"Second time in my life I ever see the sea, actually! And damn, does California have it good!" There are more beautiful coasts in the world, like the ones of the red sea, but Californian beaches just burst with life, with all the people on them. So vary, so many… And so many breast implants, but Naruto's attention was mostly on the sea. "Race you to the water!"

"Hey! No fair! You've got an headstart! And you've got orange trunks! You can mimetize!"

"Isn't anyone going to correct her on her grammar?" Chase asked, but the group just shrugged and slowly followed the two hyper members of their group to the water. Then Chase remembered something. "Hey, Victor. Are you… I mean, you and water…"

"I'm a hybrid, and I've gone to the beach and took baths regularly long before I discovered I was." Victor said, and walked past Chase who just scratched the back of his head.

"Geez… My parents would have had a field day studying you."

"Molly splash!"

"Wah… Bleah!" Naruto was with his mouth open as Molly splashed him with water and superstrength. "Hey! I had my mouth open!"

"Hmmm… Hey, guys…" Nico had been the last to enter the water, and suddenly all attention was on her because of her tone. "We have a little revenge to exact, right?"

"… Nico, you're a genius."

"H-Hey!" Suddenly, all the Runaways began to water-splash Naruto, remembering just how he had basically defeated and ridiculized all of them. "Hey! Knoc-Sput!" Nothing. The attack was relentless. _… Alright. Let's see if this works…_ Among the many things Naruto had memorized, there was the fight between Zabuza and Kakashi. All those handseals… Bad thing that usually, one didn't remember that clear of a version of the fight to take his time to analyze each handseal and memorize them. _I really need to buy those girls a gift._

"Ahahah! Take th… Uh?" Suddenly, they noticed that Naruto had started doing something with his hands and that the water was starting to move around and behind him. Everyone stopped doing what they did and their gaze were dragged to the evil grin Naruto was sporting.

"Suiton! Daibakufu!"

"Sui-Wh… AAAAAAH!" Suddenly the water in front of Naruto literally exploded, and shot away everyone around, including every member of the Runaways and a few other beach-dwellers. Naruto cringed, thinking that he had expelled a little quantity of chakra… Then he remembered that his quantity of chakra was relatively enormous. Chase was the first to recover. "W-What the hell was that?!"

"Ehm… Sorry. Ninja secret." The beating he got while Nico brainwashed the beach in forgetting an explosion of water was epic.

--

"Ah, nothing better than have a picnic on the top of a mountain range after a morning on the beach, hn?"

"Seriously, Nico. Your magic is so overpowered that it's not even funny." Naruto said while scratching his right arm. Wool itched. "You can basically do everything as long as you've not done it once! Are there no limitations?"

"I've been experimenting. First, I can't seem to maintain two spells at the same time. Also, in case it's about a black magic spell… Well, there's a size limitation. No Hiroshima anytime soon." Naruto wanted to add 'Thank god', because everyone who got their hands on the staff could cast a spell, basically. "I think it's because of the… Source."

"That's what I wanted to ask about next. I mean, what powers the staff?"

"… Pain and painful memories." Naruto's eyes blanked. "The staff appears when my blood is shed, right? I think that it's not much about the blood, but the pain. It always goes back in my body after a couple of uses because the pain of a cut is relatively little. If I were to like, stab myself, I could probably use more spells before the staff disappears again… Which makes me wonder, how do other people use it just by grabbing it in their hands."

"… That's not very comfortable… Oh, well." Naruto dug in his sandwich again. Italian ham eaten on an Italian mountain in the middle of summer. The best thing ever. "So you guys do this all the time?"

"Most of the time, we monitor L.A. for supervillains, but after the stunt with you and the Young Avengers, we thought that at least until the whole Civil War thing blows over, we keep a low profile. Claro, no?" Victor bit in his own sandwich, forgetting that tomato slices tend to slip out of bread.

"Heh… Yeah. You better do that… As long as it keeps on going on like this." Naruto bit into his own, then Xavin decided to talk.

"Like this… How?"

"Without a sense, Xavin. One side should represent the law but they twist it to obtain what they want. The other side has all the heart in this world, but they fight for the wrong reasons… No, scratch that. They both fight the wrong way for the right reasons…" Naruto groaned. "I had a talk with captain America before coming here, you know?"

"Meh. He has bad breath." Naruto blinked while the rest of the group chuckled.

"… Whatever. The point is, he told me to think about the war… But how am I supposed to do that? I know nothing about war, now that I think about it." Naruto said. The only thing he knew about war were the few history class he took during the academy, but would they apply to his own situation? Victor suddenly smiled.

"Well, I think we can fix that quickly… Amigo."

--

"Los Angeles museum of the holocaust…"

"It was this or the Museum of Tolerance. I always preferred this one, actually. The Museum of Tolerance points too much on making the holocaust personal…" Naruto had entered the museum a few minutes ago, but already he was starting to feel something in his stomach. Just him, Victor and Nico had gone inside, since they had decided to not bring Molly in, they split the group up. "It's not exactly a museum about war… But this is about the consequences of war."

"The most horrible consequence of war ever…" Naruto continued to look around, and he really felt uneasy looking at everything in the room. They had stopped in front of a collage of photos and newspapers, it seemed. Two titles were cut out and stood out above everything else: 'Jews murdered' and 'Massacre'.

"… The short version? I feel like puking already…" Looking at some of the pictures, seeing how the people in them looked hopeless… And weak, so weak. He had seen dead bodies, but living people reduced to such a state… It was revolting. Disgust as well as anger was surging in him, even if there were no photos of those people's torturers that he could lay his eyes on, in his line of sight.

"Basically, World War II was the worst war in history. Because of the number of men and weapons, but mostly because it was the first war ever where civilians got targeted deliberately."

"… All these people and they weren't even soldiers?" That was a stupid question, seeing as he had seen pictures of children too, in the museum.

"Nope. They were scapegoats." Victor continued, keeping on looking around. "This monster named Hitler used them as scapegoats to foment the spirits of his followers. He gave Jewish people the fault of many of Germany's problems, and when he declared war on the world, his range of persecution just extended."

"You mean… Everywhere he went, not only he conquered countries… But he deliberately searched out these people and… Killed them?" Victor just nodded, narrowing his eyes.

"They did even worse… When they conquered Poland, they shut down their universities and prohibited theatre. They wanted to destroy their existence, their culture…" Victor shook his head. "And they say Victor von Doom is evil."

"… But why?" Naruto had stopped walking, fixated on a single picture out of the whole wall. "I mean, to do this, he led an army. An army of… Millions, maybe, right? Why? Why did they do these horrible things?"

"… When the war was over, most of them replied: 'I was just following orders'. Hitler was the head of the government, after all… Bullshit. I think most of them enjoyed being in control of other people's lives, future… Everything." Nico replied stopping right beside the blonde, who kept on going through those last words in his head.

"… The head of…!" His eyes widened in realization as those last words connected with some events and a conversation he had had recently. With Patriot. He suddenly felt weak in his knees and fell to the ground.

"H-Hey! You alright?"

"… How could I…" What he had just realized then connected from what he knew of his own home, those lessons he heard but had not actually listened to. He really, really had to give the cuckoos a gift once he went back. "I was… How could I compare…" _Now I see… Now I see!_

--

As understanding and knowledge downed on Naruto, back in New York, preparations were being made. Preparations for some kind of final battle, it seemed. One of these preparations included the reprogramming of the Thor cyborg, but since it was partly organic, that meant a traditional surgery.

"_Reed, it's Tony. How's the __second Thor cyborg's programming coming along? Have you found out what the problem was?"_

"Mm. A little late for Bill Foster, but the blocker in his head should stop him killing anyone when we go for the big push." Reed said, installing said blocker right under the artificial cerebellum of the cyborg, currently in the open of an aseptic room. It had been one hell of a work, making another in so little time. "What's the situation on the ground? I've been in surgery thirty-six hours straight."

--

"Just like you predicted on your probability map: crime figures haven't been this good since Eisenhower was in office." The data and his inner scanner confirmed it as he stared at the streets below with his scanner. "Can you imagine how boring it's going to be once the new heroes are up and running too?"

"_Boring's good, Tony. Boring means little kids aren't getting buildings pushed on top of them."_ Tony shook his head, chuckling sadly.

"How did your call with the president go?"

"_I just read him the riot act and told him I wouldn't play a part in our big finale unless I had an absolute guarantee that Sue and Johnny wouldn't face arrest."_

"What did he say?"

"_He said he'd give us twelve immunities, but everyone else would be open to prosecution."_

"Leave the rest to me. I'm seeing him for dinner anyway." One side prepared pardons.

--

"Punisher to Captain America. Just passed level thirty-eight and none of their alarms have registered. Only two more stories and we're in, Cap." The other one gathered information on how to free their captured friends, to even out the scores again.

"_Careful, Castle. You even brush against one of those things and the whole system attacks you as an invading organism."_ The 'things' cap was referring to were strange azure globes floating inside the vent tunnel Frank Caste alias the Punisher was climbing inside Baxter Building. _"Sue says Reed based their security on the human immune system, this month."_

"Relax. Nothing can read me while I'm wearing the dampers. I'm invisible to all cameras and trip-beams."

"_Where the hell did you lay your hands on this kind of hardware, anyway?"_ Frank smirked.

"Let's just say Tony Stark's warehouse manager should invest in bigger locks."

--

"You talk like it matters, Susan. Power struggles on your little mound are as meaningless to me as the tides are to you." And trying to gather other allies, but Susan Storm was met with little success, it seemed. "The death of my cousin Namorita was all that mattered in this debacle, and her assailant has been dealt with privately."

"But Cap's one of your oldest friends. You've known him longer than anyone." Susan said, as Namor got finally up from his throne and approached the blonde superhuman.

"And where's this friend, now? Trying to make deals with the X-Men or Stephen Strange while he sends you here with your puppy-dog eyes?" Namor said with disdain. "Tell this new master of yours I have no interest in helping a man who would take advantage of our unique relationship."

"What are you talking about? We don't have a relationship." They sure had some history, though.

"I can feel your heartbeat through the water, Mrs Richards…" Namor raised a hand and gently leaned his index finger on top of the transparent mask alias a highly technological rebreather she was wearing. "And it tells a very different story from the lies upon your lips."

--

"… You've become boring."

"… Sorry." He indeed had become boring. After returning home from the museum, he had started going through the history section of the pride's library. Reading everything he could about wars and violent government overthrowing, much to Molly's dismay.

"… What was in that museum?" Since he had changed after coming out of it, it was clear that something bad was in museums. She would stay away from them forever.

"… History. And a lesson to be learned." Naruto closed down the book he was reading about the American civil war, and dispelled the clones who had finished reading the other chapters of the book. He cringed when feedback hit him. "… Just as I thought."

"You finished now?" Naruto cracked his neck but turned to Molly, smiling.

"Yes, I'm done. I finished your parents' old history section, so…" Suddenly, a loud roar resounded in the cave. "Ehm, I guess it wasn't that good of an idea to jump dinner."

"Eheheheh… Come on, let's go to the kitchen! We can have some cereals!" Molly jumped down from her chair and started dragging Naruto to the kitchen. The blonde rolled his eyes, since if she had sugar at 1 AM she probably wasn't going to sleep anytime soon. In the end he was made to sit on a chair while she rummaged through the fridge. "Damn, where's the milk?! I really hope Victor didn't finish it again… Uh?" A hand moved from behind her and caught the milk from the mess she had made of the fridge. She looked up to find a grinning Naruto.

"Ehm… Sorry."

"No sweat." Naruto sat down at the table while Molly took the bowls, the cereals and the spoons. "So… The best thing you like about being a superhero?"

"No school!" Molly immediately replied while showing cereals into her bowl, much to the blonde's eyerolling. "And you?"

"… Meh. I guess the fact that people like me…" Naruto said with a slight flush on his face, which Molly noticed.

"Girls too, right? I mean, I bet lots of girls like you." Naruto flushed again. Right from the mouth of innocence. "I knew it! And I bet you do that smoochy stuff! Grooooooss!"

"Gross? It's normal when two people like each other, you know…"

"Then you're going to smooch with Nico as well?" Naruto flinched and was a bit taken back by that.

"Nico? No way! First thing, I don't think she's ever out of PMS…"

--

"Urge… To kill blonde… Raising…"

"Go back to sleep, Nico…"

--

"Second, she already does the smooch stuff with Victor, right?" Molly blinked at that and then her face became living awe.

"How do you know?! You are like my parents?! You read minds?!"

"Nope. I just saw him getting annoyed when Nico hugged me." Naruto said with a grin, much to Molly's confusion. "It's called jealousy. It's when you don't like seeing someone you smooch with smooching with someone else."

"Ahhh… I get it…" Molly said, before stuffing cereals and milk in her mouth, eating them with loud crunches. "Well, noph weally, but I dess if o…"

"Swallow before you talk." She did.

"I mean, I guess it's one of the things I will get when I grow up… But I still think it's gross… Brrrr!" She shivered and Naruto chuckled.

"Whatever you say, Molly. Whatever you say." Naruto said, tilting his head back and looking at the ceiling, and then something came to him. Maybe he could ask her. "Hey, Molly…"

"Hmm?" She swallowed before talking, this time.

"You see… I have a problem. I have a group of friends that are doing something stupid, but even if they tell them, they won't listen to me. What should I do?" Molly narrowed her eyes.

"Hmm… This happens to us a lot… Well…" Molly scratched the back of her head, thinking about what Nico usually did when that happened. "Usually… Nico makes us listen to her. She forces us, if she needs to."

"… That's what I thought." In Naruto's head, a plan started to take shape. A plan to turn over the whole situation, but he would need help. He needed to plan, and to do that… He needed information.

--

"Aww… You're already going?"

"Yeah… And I really must thank you, guys." Naruto hoisted his sack over his right shoulder while talking to the group. "If it hadn't been for you… Especially you, Victor… I think it would have taken me ages to understand just what was wrong with this whole situation."

"Well… You're welcome?" Victor said, quite unsure of just what he could have done of decisive to clear Naruto's mind. The blonde knew it was time to say hi. He hugged Karolina and Xavin first, the latter was in his girl form.

"You're a nice couple, even if you would be the joy of all perverts to look at. Try to be happy, hn?" He noticed how Xavin's hug had strengthened somewhat while Karolina just chuckled, but he let it go. He then bumped fist with both Chase and Victor and then kneeled down in front of Molly, who was still pouting. "No hug?"

"You're mean. First you become boring, then you go away… Meanie." Naruto sweatdropped.

"Aw, come on… Alright. Then, what about this: you can ask me one thing and I will do it." Molly's ears twitched at those words.

"… Anything?"

"Anything." Naruto said. Too bad he never learned to never say that thing to anyone. Molly grinned and whispered something in his right ear. Naruto paled and his eyes went as wide as teacups. "M-MOLLY!"

"Promise me! Or I'll never talk to you again! You will be like Candle Jack, and no one will ever be able to call you by name again without going away!" Naruto palmed his face, already regretting what he had said.

"Alright… I promise."

"Yahi!" Molly latched her arms around Naruto's neck, much to his dismay, and then let go of him with a bright smile on her face. Naruto groaned and then turned to Nico.

"Damn her… Scary smart, even if she doesn't look like it." He said, putting a hand on her right shoulder. "Keep an eye on her, will you?"

"We always do, but I think it's the others who've got to worry." Nico shook her head. "So… Where to?"

"Xavier's School for Higher Learning. Ah, also, Nico…" Naruto suddenly leaned his face in and whispered something to Nico's ear. The girl raised an eyebrow, but just nodded when he put his face back in her line of sight. "Thanks." He then hugged her and released her to make her work her magic. "See you soon, guys." He stepped through the black and purple wormhole that had appeared in midair, and just like that, he was gone.

"Aaaaaaaand… There he goes." Chase commented, before turning to Molly. "Molly, just what the hell did you ask of him? He looked about ready to faint."

"Eheheheh… I won't tell you."

--

"Welcome…"

"Back…"

"Militia."

"Seriously, this fact that you split the sentences between the three of you is creepy. It's like Huey, Louie and Dewey mixed with Shining… AH!AH!AH! STOP FILLING MY HEADS WITH GRATUITUOUS MALE NUDITY! STOP!" The three girls just shrugged and released him from the psychically induced torture. "Damn, I knew that Logan was hairy, but this hairy?" He mumbles from the floor.

"The school got a call from Stark Tower." He winced, hearing that.

"They told us that you… Ran away."

"Why did you come here?"

"… Oh, come on. You already know." The cuckoos didn't reply. They just kept on staring at him, cue the boy sighing heavily. "Alright, alright… I need a favour of you. This time… It's something big." Naruto holds out a piece of paper to the nearest blonde, who takes it in her hand and observes it closely. "I need you to check these people for… Their plans for the next two weeks."

"… And find the information you seek."

"But… Why should we help you?"

"Give us a good reason."

"… Because I'm begging you." Naruto gets on his knees and puts his hands and forehead on the ground, bowing to the three identical blonde girls in front of him, whose eyebrows raise as to show slight surprise. "I have nothing to offer you, right now, even if you helped me once already… So I can just beg you and assure you that I will repay your gentleness in the future… Once this is all over."

"… It is suitable." The cuckoos got up from their seats and started walking to the door.

"We will have to use Cerebra to do it without them noticing."

"While you wait, please try to hide…" A puff of smoke later, and Naruto had become a carpet. "… Yes. That will do." The three blonde girls closed the door behind them, leaving a carpet Naruto on the floor who mouthed a silent 'Thank you' with… Well, I don't really know.

--

"… This is exactly what I needed and more." Naruto said as he went through the information the cuckoos had downloaded directly into his brain. Along with the information he had asked for, he was now currently going through hypothesis and possible accidents of chance that the girls had calculated based on what they saw. "… Thanks. This is exactly what I needed… Now…"

"We can help you with your plan, if you want." Naruto blinked at that, and he could swear one of the triplets had displayed a small evil smile.

"Don't be surprised. When no one can notice you doing so, peering inside people's head becomes an habit."

"We and miss Frost mostly do it for safe keepings, but… It's probably the only source of amusement we have left. And consider that technically we can't even feel amusement anymore."

"… So… You can help me. What do you suggest?"

"We suggest that we sit down and lay out a plan so that we miss nothing, that we leave nothing to the sort." Naruto suddenly blinked, as the girls were now talking simultaneously, much to his sweating. "A plan so grand that they will be forced to do nothing but listen to the voice of reason. Your reason." They had started walking towards him, and he fell on his butt, a bit shaken. The three girls got on their knees and hands and slowly crawled up to him. "A plan that will make you the decisive piece of the chessboard in this crazy war."

"… Alright. But can you please stop scaring me?" He squeaked, covering his head with his hands, and he saw that evil smirk again. No longer able to feel emotions his ass. They were enjoying it. "… Where do we start?"

"Your basic idea is sound, but we need to work on the how and how to maximize the thing. You'll need help from a few people… All of which you're acquainted with, fortunately." Naruto blinked, and then his eyes widened at what he was 'seeing'. "You'll need to contact them, of course. We will help you with that too. But for now, you need to get out of the school before someone notices you're back."

"… You're right." Naruto said, and then realized that he couldn't use his teleporter, since someone was probably surveying X-Factor's headquarters. For once, he would have to use traditional ways of travelling. He had enough money with him, thanks to Tony's 'allowance'. He never thanked him for that, by the way. "… Can you teach me how to ride a motorcycle?"

--

"Honey…"

"What?"

"Your motorcycle." Scott Summers almost crushed the cup in his hands. No one touched his motorcycle and survived… Well, except for Logan.

--

"WOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOO!" It helped the fact that Naruto had managed to sneak out a secret tunnel of the mansion along with the motorcycle thanks to the Cuckoos' help, and he had just discovered the joys of riding a motorcycle. "Damn, this is cool! I could this fore… OW!OUCH!AW!" Tree branches on the road permitting. Good thing Cyclops' motorcycle is sturdy.

--

"Yes. I have already a guest in mind for next week's episode." Being a talk-show's host was hard work. Not as hard as, say, defeating Onslaught or Doctor Doom, but still hard work. You had to deal with a lot of people, varying from guests to producers to authors. God, how she hated the authors they had stuck her with. Good thing she was perfectly able to improvise. "Yes, I will let you know the details as soon as possible. Goodnight." She sighed and closed the call, putting back the cordless phone on its base. In reality, she had no idea who to call for to attend to her show. Most of her pro-reg friends were too busy, it seemed. "… I need to think carefully about this…"

"_May I present you with an option, Janet?"_ She got startled. Not because she hadn't experienced someone talking in her mind before. Hardly. It was the voice. It was rather unfamiliar to her, having heard it up close just for a few hours. It took her a little while to regain her bearings and recognize it.

_Militia? Is it you?_

"_Yes, it's me."_ Strangely, she could feel him nodding on the other end of the… Thinking. _"Sorry if I startled you."_

_Where have you been? Tony has been searching for you. He was really worried…_

--

"… I'm sorry." The other people in the gas station's restaurant stared at him as he suddenly said sorry to no one, since he was sitting alone. He cleared his thoughts and coughed in his hand. _I'm sorry to have worried him, but… I just couldn't trust him anymore. He's in this too deep to get out of it._

--

_What do you mean? Have you…_

"_I haven't joined Cap's side. I'm on my own. I still think that the registration is necessary, but… __There are just too many shadows in how it is now, and I've made a few errors of judgment. Big errors."_

"… So why did you contact me?" The woman said, sitting in her armchair and staring at the outside city through her glass walls.

"… _Talking to Tony about it will do nothing. Talking to Cap will do nothing. But I've go to try to at least talk to the people who watch us, who want this."_ Janet instinctively nodded, understand where the blonde was going with this.

_So… You want to take me up on that offer to be a guest in my __talk show?_

"_Yes. Like I said, I want a chance to talk, to be heard… I need to explain myself and tell people what errors of judgment I made. What it must be done if we want the registration to be done right."_

Janet listened to him and then smiled. He had matured so much in the arc of a few days. She was actually looking forward to his eighteenth birthday, now. _I have a vacant spot for next week. You're saving me._

"_I'm happy to hear that we will be able to help each other… Let's just hope that we will be able to help other people as well. Now… I must go."_

"Wait. How can I contact you?"

"_I will. Think you soon, Janet."_ And with that, the voice had disappeared from her head, leaving a smiling and pretty curious avenger sitting alone in her apartment. "You're certain a never-ending source of amusement, Naruto…"

--

"… First phase, completed." Naruto said with a sigh. He was about to mentally thank the girls only to find out that they were gone already. _You can never be too cautious, I guess… Now, the next part. I need to get to Dallas._

--

"… So, the tides of time spur and change." Stephen strange said, observing through the 'astral fire' in front of him the musings and thoughts of a young hero in the making.

"Indeed. This boy is peculiar. You humans are most peculiar as a race, but among you… He 'takes the cake'."

"… Well, he's not exactly human, Uatu. His races and the mutants have shared origins. An experiment of the celestials… So, we could call him a subspecies, maybe." Stephen said with a small smile coming to his lips. "No matter the race or the planet he comes from, the boy is indeed a wonder. His actions, his decisions… I wonder if he will ever realize how much they can affect the world because of his ability to influence others."

"I guess it is something that he took from his father." At that declaration, Stephen's eyes widened and his concentration almost broke. "I've always taken an interest in your race, Stephen, and imagine my wonder when looking in the records of my race I found that on another planet of our galaxy an almost identical race dwelled…" Stephen's eyes returned to a normal size as he got his focus back, but he kept on listening to Uatu with much attention. "On a night, I was witness to a great battle, a great passing… And a birth, that I could feel was going to influence his world for ages to come. Imagine my surprise, finding him here, in the midst of another turmoil of fate."

"… Uatu…" Stephen said, a thought surfacing in his mind. "What do you know about the boy's family?"

--

"And another day of work has gone by." Forge said, removing his bandanna and his apron before slumping into a nearby chair while a servbot brought him a cup of tea. It had taken weeks, but he had finally managed to bring Eagle Plaza to its former glory. Nothing like being able to build fully functioning versatile cyborg to help you rebuild your home and your lab. Now he could start working on recreating lost research, and starting working on the next projects that came to his mind each and every time he thought of a simple concept. "Hmm… Maybe I will begin working on the Blue Nimrod again."

"If possible, I would like to ask you to put that project on hold, mister Forge." Forge almost jumped out of his skin and effectively got up from his seat in a flash, taking a hold of a weapon he had manufactured and pointing it at the source of the new voice. "W-Woah! It's me! Don't you remember?! We were buried under concrete together!"

"… You…" Forge had seen the boy just twice. By chance, at a funeral, and then when his home had gotten assaulted by a killing robot from the future. The adult mutant slowly lowered his weapon. "You're… Militia, right?"

"Pheew! Good thing you remembered! I knew that in Texas they were pretty relaxed with gun control, but corpses are another thing, right?" Naruto joked, as Forge raised an eyebrow in amusement.

"What are you doing here?" He asked, curious as to why the young boy had sneaked around inside his newly rebuilt home.

"Well… I need your help, actually, mister Forge." Naruto put his right hand behind his neck, on the usual spot. "You see… I need to end this war. The Civil War, I mean." Forge crossed his arms over his chest, listening to Naruto's words. "I already know how, but I need help. Someone told me… That you are able to build everything you think of. Is that true?"

"Yes. It's more… Complicated than that, but that's the gist of my mutant power." Forge said, already understanding why he had come to him. "So, you need me to build you something?"

"Nothing harmful. I don't need a weapon… But it's still something big." Naruto picked out of his pocket the piece of paper with the notes the Cuckoos had made him write, regarding the specifics of the object he needed. "Here."

"… What's this?" Forge took the piece of paper and started reading. At each line he read, his eyes widened more, and more, and more, till he was left with his mouth agape. "You…" He stared alternatively at Naruto then back at the paper then back at Naruto. "What do you need this for?"

"… To end this war." Naruto said. Forge shook his head and then placed both his hands on his shoulders.

"Boy… I can only think of one use for something like this, and… I mean, if you really want to do what I think of, alone… This is madness!" Naruto lowered his head and stared at the ground.

"I know. It's a completely idiot plan. Very risky, high probability for backfiring…" Naruto said, biting his lower lip. Then he raised his head with a sharp movement, and Forge was almost burned by the fire he saw behind those eyes. "But it needs to be done. It needs to be at least tried. I need to at least try… Or things will end badly in the long run, whichever side may win."

"… Boy, you…" Forge stared, trying to find a spot, a crack, something that he could exploit to make him waver and desist, but found nothing… Just like Noriko when they had found themselves facing Nimrod. "… Are you really sure about this?"

"I am. Please, do not mention this to anyone… Well, I got an insurance on that, actually, but I still would like you to not do so." Naruto said, smiling sadly and shaking his head. "No matter. The point is, can you build it?"

"… Yes, I can." Naruto grinned. Step two of the plan was complete.

_Continue…_

_In the next chapter…_

The final act of the Civil War is en route. The two sides meet in their planned final battle, but the course of it, its outcome will be changed along with the destiny of the superhuman community by Naruto's last stand. What's his plan? Will it succeed? Stay tuned for the last, extra-long, action-packed chapter of No Reading!

**Christmas Special: No Christmas**

"Christmas? What's Christmas?" It's been years since part 3, but this is still the best description to describe a room full of frozen people. It was like someone had shouted Za Warudo, with the way every single student at the Xavier's had froze and stopped everything they were doing, mostly were discussing what to do for Christmas, hence Naruto asking about the event known as Christmas.

"… Oh my god, you're serious." The first to break out of the shock induced silence was Julian. "You really don't know what Christmas is?!"

"… No, I don't. We don't have Christmas back in my world…" Naruto said, shrugging his shoulders. "Is it such a big deal?"

"Such a big deal?!" The outraged one was Surge. "Of course, it is! Darn, I knew this new 'work' of yours was a bad idea! You…"

"Shhhh! Idiot! That would be a spoiler, since in the actual story is still Civil War and as such, summer!" Cessily admonished the blue haired mutant, to which she replied with a blink.

"Ah… Right, right." She cleared her throat. "The point is, we can't have you not knowing what Christmas is!"

"… Why?"

"Because…" Surge thought about it, and came up with nothing. "Because I said so! Alright?! I'm the leader, here!"

"Technically, you're not my leader anymore. So…"

"Don't make me pheromone you, Naruto." The blonde flinched at Laurie's tone. "On this, she's right."

"On this?!"

"… Alright, I surrender. So what?" Naruto said, crossing his arms over his chest, and immediately regretted not putting up more of a fight, since Cessily's grin was carnivorous, and bode not well.

"First thing, theory. Christmas means…"

--

"I got that Christmas means presents, but… This is ridiculous! And shouldn't I get a saying in what I buy, since it's my presents to you?!" Naruto's clone said from under the weight of lots and lots of packages, much to Cessily's chuckling.

"Ah, come on. It's not like you can't afford them, with your actual income." Naruto, the real one, rolled his eyes at Cessily's logic.

"I know, but…" Naruto sighed, crossing his arms over his chest. "I'm trying to save up." Cessily blinked.

"You're saving up? If I got all that money monthly, I couldn't wait to spend it." Naruto scratched the side of his nose. "And what would you want to buy, that it costs that much?"

"Well… I can't tell you yet, sorry."

"Hmm… Alright, alright. Well, the next part of the quick Christmas course is…"

--

"Eggnog?"

"We will go over Christmas food directly on Christmas eve. Be careful with these decorations, for now." Laurie admonished Naruto as the two hanged a banner over an inner doorway. "… By the way, who was put in charge of the mistletoe?"

"Uh? Laura. Why?"

"… I should have known." By the fact that there was basically a mistletoe for every single square meter of the school. "Well, whatever. I guess this will be a Christmas with lots of smooching. Then…" Suddenly, some knocks on the door. "Will someone please…"

"Already on the job." Laurie rolled her eyes. Being able to make doubles was really, really useful, it seemed. Naruto went to open the door and the copy immediately disappeared because of the strength of a flying glomp. The real Naruto cringed at the feeling of his ribs cracking under the pressure, while the culprit pouted.

"It's not fair, Naruto! Get down here!"

"Let me think about that… No." Naruto said, while Molly pouted from her sitting position on the floor, and then with incredible speed grabbed the ladder he was on and began to shake it. "H-HEYYYYYYY! STOP IT!"

"GET DOWN! I WANT TO HUG YOU!"

"Molly, stop it!" Nico rushed in and tried to calm down the hyperactive twelve years old while the rest of the group walked in, followed by a laughing Layla.

"Ah, Layla!" Cessily was the one to greet personally the blonde, much to her smiling. "How are you doing? We haven't seen you ever since the whole messiah thing."

"I've been doing fine. Just ask Naruto." That made the redhead blink, and Layla let a small 'Whoops' escape her lips as the silver skinned mutant turned to Naruto, who was hanging to a Christmas tree for dear life.

"Narutoooooooooooooooo…" He blinked and then began to sweat at Cess's homicidal look. "What does she mean with 'just ask Naruto'?"

"… Ehm… I may have… Visited her a little more often than you guys?" The 'snikt' didn't bode well. "O-Oh, come on! I have to report two times a week in New York city because of work! Can you really blame me?"

"Yes."

"… Damn… MOLLY, STOP SHAKING THE DAMN TREE!"

"But I like how it goes all tingly…" Julian facepalmed.

"Does he meet any normal people?"

--

"Ok, seriously. We're waiting for midnight in front of the chimney… Why?"

"Well, first, because it's nice to cuddle in front of a fire." Naruto was starting to feel a bit too hot, since he basically had four girls taking turns in cuddling to him and Molly as a fixed host. Seriously, he was starting to sweat.

"Yeah, right… And two?"

"Well, we have to wait for…"

"OHOHOHOHOH!" He suddenly tensed as a very familiar voice echoed in the room, coming from the chimney, along with some rubble. "MERRY CHRISTMAS!"

"Santa Claus…" Layla began to laugh, as they saw a leg stick out of the chimney's tunnel.

"… You know, the fire is still…"

"YEOOOOOOOOOOOOW!"

"On." Naruto facepalmed as a now burning Deadpool was running around trying to put out the fire.

--

"Alright. Now that I changed in a new set of tights and put out the fire, santa is going to give you lots and lots of presents!"

"Wade, seriously, you're one of my best friends, but this is ridiculous even for your standards." Seriously, the fake beer belly, or eggnog belly to stay in theme, was so evident that it wasn't even funny, and the beard was partly burned and completely charred.

"If you don't shut up, no present for you." Naruto rolled his eyes but shut up. "Good! Now, let's see! First one on the list is… Molly!"

"Yeahh! What is it?! What is it?!" The hyperactive girl jumped from Naruto's body and onto the ground as Deadpool handed her a finely wrapped package which she opened in a flash. Her eyes widened and she beamed. "Ohhhhh! A costume!" Naruto blinked and moved his head forward and facepalmed when he noticed that Molly had gotten a Nanoha costume. Both him and Nico shuddered. "Thanks, Santa!"

"Ohohoh! Next one, next one!" Santa Deadpool directly threw the next package to Laura. "That's for you!"

"… Thanks." She slowly opened the package and from the noise of fingers brushing fabric Naruto understood that they were more clothes… And he promptly began to nosebleed at the sight of black lace and stockings. "… Intriguing."

"IN… WADE! WHAT THE HELL?!"

"Oh, come on. Like you haven't already started going through scenarios." Naruto just glared while Wade started throwing around the presents of non-plot relevant characters. "Alright, next relevant present… Naruto!"

"… Just give me the damn thing. And it better not be a thong or something like that…"

"Ah. You already opened the other present?" Naruto growled but decided to just ignore Wade for the moment and focus on the present, and he was 'presented' with…

"… A collection of Ultimate Spiderman and Ultimate X-Men? And… Ultimate Power?"

"Up until they didn't suck. You gotta study them good. Especially Ultimate Power and the Ultimate Spiderman Specials." Naruto raised an eyebrow and put the presents aside.

"Now, finally… Layla! Here's your present!" Layla grabbed in mid-air the thrown envelope.

"Thanks. So, like last year, this Xmas we present you with a few Q&A. So… Let's get to it." Layla opened the envelope and started reading. "So, let's start with the more frequently asked questions. How long will this fic be? Well, this fic will end in two more chapters, marking also the end of the Civil War arc." Everyone gasped. "This fic, I said." Many people 'Ahhhhhhh'-ed in understanding.

"Next question…" This one was Laurie. "Will Naruto ever go back to his world? Damn, this has been asked so many times…"

"The answer is yes. Naruto will do go back to his world, but before that he will have to go through World War Hulk. In story, that's another Six Months. And before World War Hulk, there's going to be many arcs to go through."

"Next question: 'You put in Marvel Zombies. Are you going to put in the Ultimate Universe too?'." Cessily read again.

"More or less. Naruto will not visit those worlds, but in this story, we're going to have one character from the Marvel Zombies universe and two characters from the Ultimate Universe joining the cast."

"And finally, this has been asked more than anything else, I think." Laura read the last question on the paper. 'What about the summoning technique? Why didn't Naruto try it to send messages to home?'."

"Hey! You're right!" Naruto jumped down from the sofa and started doing handseals. "What an idiot I've been! I should have tried this long ago… Kuchiyose no Jutsu!" Naruto tried his technique… But nothing happened. "… Uh?"

"This your answer. The explanation is: originally the Kuchiyose had been presented as a technique that summoned monsters from other dimensions, ala Final Fantasy, but later in the Naruto manga this has been retconned, since we've seen that the summons, at least the frogs, live in the same world as the ninjas, on a mountain range. So, since it's highly impossible to rip the fabric between dimensions without advanced technological equipment or very powerful magic, sorry: the Kuchiyose is currently useless as a ass without…"

"LAYLA! I KNOW THIS IS RATED M, BUT NOT IN THE CHRISTMAS SPECIAL!" Cessily covered the blonde's mouth with her hand, while Naruto slumped to the ground, a little sad.

"Ahhh, come on. Don't be down! Just think of all the ass you're gonna kick in the next few months! And how you're going to meet with your dad!"

"My dad? Wait, you mean…" Naruto blinked. "Wait a minute. To meet my dad, in the manga, I had to almost rip off the seal and…" The ninja's eyes widened. "YOU DON'T MEAN…!"

"Sorry, that's enough spoilers for this special! Now, eggnog!"

"EGGNOG!" It was more like a battlecry than a cheer, but in a few second everyone was downing eggnog, much to the Runaways' dismay. Molly high on eggnog was a sight to behold and fear. Naruto groaned, but then grinned and put on a santa-styled hat.

"Merry Xmas to everyone!"


	26. Civil War X

Well… It took some time, but, here we are! Last chapter of this fic! Only thing left after this is the epilogue! Hope you enjoy reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it! So, I hope, enjoy!

**No Reading**

**Chapter 25****: The only thing I can do**

"… It's done."

"For real?!" Naruto had helped Forge the first two days with building its device, but the last day he had been left with nothing to do at all while Forge applied the 'last touches'. He got up with a jump from his seat and flashed to the mutant's side, observing the object… In his hands. "Uh? Wasn't it like… One hundred times bigger?"

"I can build everything I think of and you don't think I've ever thought of building something able to resize excessively big things?" Forge raised an eyebrow in amusement, to which Naruto replied with an embarrassed laugh. "Alright. Now, listen to me. Even if I reduced its size, the fact doesn't change that most of the volume of this thing is made up by its energy factory. The amount of energy it will need to function is the same as well, and to power something like this… It's no small amount."

"And… So?" The blonde asked with his arms crossed.

"So… Someone with sophisticated enough equipment could locate this device and destroy it. So, I suggest you hide it the best you can to deter them, since the technology needed to build a cloaking device still doesn't exist. Even I have limitations, sadly. To tell the truth, I doubt you will be able to use it for more than five minutes… Ten, at most." Forge said, handing the cube shaped metallic device, now no bigger than a small speaker. Naruto noticed how Forge had integrated in the project the fact that the device would be reduced, since the buttons were now finger sized, while before they probably were… Headbutt sized.

"… They will suffice." Naruto said, nodding. "Thanks, Forge… And I'm sorry."

"For what? Ah…" Forge suddenly felt a sudden cold on his head, that began to spread all over his body. "Ahhh… Good old memory erasing. I guess… Thanks for not wanting me to get implied in case your plan goes bad."

"Yeah… You've done enough, I don't want you to take responsibility." Naruto said with a sad smile. "Ehm… It was the girls' idea, by the way."

"Hmm… I think I will just lay down, alright?" Forge said, getting drowsy. In a few seconds, he was completely out of it, snoring in his peaceful sleep.

"… Damn, I feel dirty for doing this… Hey! Promise that if the plan goes well, you'll give him his memories back!"

"_Promise. Now you must hurry. Today is the big day, isn't it?"_

"… Yes." Naruto said, swallowing and staring at the metallic device in his hands. "Yes, it is." _I need to make a phone call, now._

--

"It seems you've got all your bases covered, Tony. I'm sure I will not be that big loss."

"_You must be joking, Janet. You're a founding Avengers, for god's sake."_ Janet said, sighing heavily as she was telling Tony that she would not take part in that evening's final battle because she had to host her show. _"Seriously, Janet. All we've done, this whole war hangs on this battle. Just give me one good reason that makes an episode of your talk show more important than it."_

"My guest is Militia, alright?" She said, raising her voice, and she could swear she had heard Tony gasp. The silence that followed on the other end of the phone signalled that he was waiting for further explanations. "He contacted me a week ago asking to be a guest in my talkshow."

"_And you didn't tell me about it… Why?"_

"Because he says that he still believes in the SHRA, but I didn't want to take the chance of him changing his mind. After all, he did run away from you, right? What would have you done? Come and taken him in? He's a teenager and he hasn't done anything wrong if not disagreeing with some details of your plan. That's what he wants to talk about. He wants to be heard, and I think he should be given that occasion… Also, I've been spawning commercials about this episode for the last three days, Tony. Where have you been?" Janet continued, and Tony still kept his silence for a few more seconds.

"… _Nevermind. You have to keep him there, out of the fight, Janet. Things are probably going to get brutal. Even more than last time… We can't have him lose anymore faith in our heroes."_

"… You expect many things from the boy, don't you?" Janet shook her head, an amused smile on her lips. "Well… Good luck. Godspeed, Tony."

"_Godspeed, Janet."_ She closed the call and turned around only to have Naruto appear in front of her. She almost let out a small shriek.

"Whoops. Sorry. I'm trying to work on my stealth again…" Janet playfully punched him on top of his head and then put a hand over her heart to calm it down.

"Work it on me, will you?" She shook her head and then observed him. "Hmm… That will not do."

"What?"

"Your clothes." She observed Naruto's choice of attire, that consisted of a jeans jacket, jeans trousers, sneakers and a blue and orange striped t-shirt. "Fortunately I had foreseen this. Antoinette." Janet snapped her fingers and immediately a smiling lady appeared and latched onto Naruto. "Wardrobe for the kid."

"H-Hey! I'm not a kid! And… Woah! Where are you taking me?!"

--

"How long since you have eaten now, Stephen Strange?"

"Just a little water since the Civil War begun, Uatu." Stephen replied, kneeling in meditation in the middle of a pentacle, his mind wandering in search of something. Something that could complete the information the Watcher had given him about Naruto's parents. He guessed that it would be a nice gift for the kid.

"Are you not tempted to simply end it?" Uatu pressed on. "With your great power, you could stop this quarrel with a gesture or a whisper."

"Precisely why I must remain above the fray." Stephen replied, his eyes still closed. "There is no right or wrong in this debate. It is simply a matter of perspective, and it is not my place to influence the evolution of the superhuman role."

"As a Watcher, I am more than familiar with such dilemmas." So many races he had seen fall, and how many times had he been tempted to do something, to give a helping hand. The only one who had moved his hand at all had been the proud human race. "But tell me: why are you fasting if you favour no side? What outcome are you meditating for?"

"Whichever victory is best for all mankind, my friend… And spills the least amount of blood tonight…" Stephen said, then a smile came to his face. "Because of that, I'm partial to the young Naruto's solution."

--

Guarding the negative zone end of the portal that lead to the massive prison for rogue superhumans was kind of boring, the guards thought. No one could escape from the complex, nor could anyone enter it from the other side unless they were authorized. There were just so many protections, and Ryker's architecture itself had been rearranged to form a maze. That's why it came as a surprise as air struck them. Or better, not air, but something invisible Susan Storm's invisible fields. Surgical precision, instant unconsciousness.

"Thank you, Susan. I think it's safe to make us visible again now that we're through." Captain America said, and the female member of the Fantastic Four complied, dispelling the field that rendered their whole group of heroes undetectable by sight and a couple other things. "Panther, what's the situation with prison security?"

"Neutralized from top to bottom, captain… Though I hate to think how long it would have taken if we hadn't had Mister Fantastic's blueprints." The wakandese superhero said.

"Thanks again for coming through like this, T'Challa." The Falcon said, hovering above the group's head. "We know it's in Wakanda's best interests to stay neutral, but…"

"Forget about it." T'Challa cut off the superhero immediately. "Our friend Goliath would still be alive if my wife and I had taken a stand when you first asked for help." Having the Black Panther and Storm of the X-Men on your side is a major boost to your potential, both for intelligence and for battle.

The group of superhumans were proceeding steadily through the prison's 'courtyard', judging by its size, when suddenly Spider-Man, walking in front of everyone else, abruptly stopped walking. "What's wrong?"

"My spider-sense is going off the scale!" Peter replied, and who had fought by his side knew what that meant. "Seriously, this is defcon one!" That was when the door in front of them opened, and half a hundred superhumans ran into the room. All members of the pro side of the registration… And a few faces who were better off behind cells, not out of them. Iron-Man standing in front of all of them, leading.

"I'm not surprised." Tony said, serious. "You've just walked into another trap, captain: earth's mightiest heroes plus earth's mightiest villains." He said, making cap observe the people around him. Many familiar faces: Taskmaster, Venom, Bullseye, and so on. "We've had a mole on your side for over a week and you're outnumbered ten to one. Would now be a good time to talk about surrender?"

"I don't think so." Cap replied, defiant. "If you're talking about Tigra, we knew all about her, Iron-Man."

"What?" The feline super-heroine exclaimed, surprised as much as everyone else in the room that wasn't on Cap's side.

"You're not the only one with a spy in your team." The shield-bearing meta continued, to which Tony replied with denial.

"Impossible." He narrowed his eyes at Cap. "The only people who knew about Tigra were myself, Hank and Reed."

"I'm sorry, Tony." Yellowjacket suddenly removed his hood while muttering those words, as Tony and Reed turned to him, shock clear in their eyes.

"Hank?! What are you doing?!" Tony continued, incredulity for once clearly readable in his voice, usually composed. "You believed in this more than any of us…"

"Oh, but I'm not Hank." 'Hank' said, as suddenly, his facial features and his very clothes started to chance shape, colour, everything. "Doctor Pym's been drugged and unconscious ever since I knocked him out and replaced him back in Arizona this morning." Tony and Reed's eyes were widening more and more by the second. "I'm Hulkling, the Young Avengers' resident shape-changer."

"Oh, dear god." Reed said, realization of just what the implications of that fact were on their situation in a instant. "If he could mimic Hank's voice and retinal pattern he's had full authority to do whatever we can…"

"The cells…" Tony said, and he didn't need to turn around to understand who the approaching footsteps belonged to.

"I believe this evens the odds a little…" Cap said, before turning back to stare at Tony, and the Iron-Man stared back, and it seemed that as their respective troops gathered around them, they decided to copy their attitude, stalemating in a stare-down, waiting for their leader's order to attack.

Some were waiting for this with glee, eager to get some payback. Most of these were villains.

Some were grimacing inside at the thought of having to fight friends. One blatant example was Stature.

Some others were just focusing and thinking about the incoming fight, knowing that this was the final one. It ended that night. The Civil War ended with that last battle.

"Now close your eyes, gentlemen." Captain America said, his teeth bared and gritted together. "This might hurt."

--

"On air in thirty seconds."

"Alright. You ready, Naruto?"

"Yes, I am…" Naruto replied, swallowing and pulling on the sleeve of his shirt. He had been changed completely. He was now wearing evening attire: black pants, black blazer, worn open, a white shirt under it. A golden chain wore around his neck. The wardrobe woman wanted to put earrings on him too, but the injury healed too soon, thankfully. He didn't feel Shikamaru enough for that. Polish black shoes too, by the way. They were currently sitting in Janet's study, as the cameraman counted down with his fingers the time that separated him from being broadcast live for the whole nation to see. _Alright. Breathe, you can do this… Damn. Why didn't I go the bathroom?!_

"And… We're on." The cameraman said, and the transmission's theme started playing, much to Naruto's grieve. He swallowed even more. If he dieted on air, he would be full, by now. Just as the music ended, Janet turned to the camera and smiled widely. "Good evening, and welcome to another…"

_Must not throw up, must not throw up, must not throw up…_ Naruto chanted in his mind, trying his best to keep a smiling face as Janet introduced the transmission… And the crowd. Goddamnit he had almost forgotten about the crowd, which was half made up by young women and teenage girls.

"Today we have a very important guest. Maybe the youngest member ever of the Avengers. We have Naruto Uzumaki, alias Militia." The squeals and roars of applauses coming from the crowd almost made him cringe, but he managed to keep it together. He grinned and waved with his hands at the crowd and the camera.

"Good evening. I know it's a damn cliché, but it's wonderful to be here." A few more squeals. He was starting to understand why Sasuke feared his fangirls so much. There was just something in their eyes that unsettled him to no end. "You look wonderful tonight, Janet."

"You charmer. Though, remember that you're still underage." Janet replied, earning a laugh from the crowd.

--

"And you better remember it too, you s…"

"Ceeeeessyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy… Language." Laurie said, physically admonishing the girl with a rolled up newspaper. She just pouted.

"… I wonder what he has been doing in the last two weeks." Laura voiced everyone's concern in the room. Naruto would have had to supposedly come back to the school for the weekend, but he didn't. Then the school got a call asking about his whereabouts, and now there he was, live on television like nothing had happened.

--

"Wow, nice clothes! I wonder where he got them…" Molly inquired, mumbling the last part under her breath.

"Karolina, where the hell is Nico?" The alien girl shook her head.

"I don't know… She went to the bathroom and she still has to appear… She's going to miss the start of the program, like this."

--

"Mary, isn't that…"

"… Yes, mom." The little girl's mind kept on going back to the strange e-mail she had received from the superhero after weeks that he hadn't heard from him. A few passages were stuck in her mind, particularly. The part where he told her to not miss the show, and the part where he said that 'I will end everything tonight, Mary. Wish me luck, though. I will need it…'. What did he mean? And why did he want her to see what he wanted to do, among everyone?

--

"So… I suppose we should start with some questions."

"Please, do. I'm pretty good with answers myself." Small laughs again. She had to ask him who wrote the text for him.

"Let's see… First question. You've stated that you're a mutant from another plane of existence, and that in your world you have a system that highly resembles the SHRA. Is that correct?" Janet asked, and Naruto was thankful for the question, since it gave him a reason to start talking.

"Well… Not exactly. In the past weeks, I have been doing a bit of research… First thing, I'm not a mutant. I don't possess the 'X-Gene'. I share some similarities with mutants… But it seems I'm another thing altogether. Also, I don't necessarily have to be from another dimension. There's the chance that I could just be from another planet. Just a 'simple' alien." Naruto said with a smile. Then, his eyes dropped to the right side. "For the… System in my homeworld… Well…"

"Yes?" Janet pushed him on. Naruto closed his eyes for a few seconds before talking again.

"My ignorance… My lack of knowledge made me make that statement." He looked straight at the camera. "I've been doing a lot of thinking these days, and I realized that while the system in my world shares the similarities of registering and controlling the people who have 'superhuman powers'… There are big, big differences. The first being that everyone in my world, given enough training and guidance, can learn to use ninja techniques. Sometimes even without them."

"Everyone? Every single living person on your planet?" Naruto nodded.

"Yes. Then… There's the second difference, and it's the one that makes my world completely different from yours." The blonde paused and crossed his hands in front of the lower half of his face. "… You. A question."

"Eh? M-Me?" Naruto had chosen a random person among the people from the crowd sitting on the first row of seats. A men in his early thirties from the looks of it, in a business suit.

"Yes. When someone mentions the word 'superhuman' to you, what do you think of?" Naruto asked as one of the cameras rotated to take in the visage of the man.

"Well… Superheroes or supervillains."

"Correct. Because that's what most of this world's superhumans are, if not all. In my world, on the other hand…" Naruto shook his head as the cameras focused back on him. "Ask everyone in my world, and at the world 'ninja', they will think of these three definitions: assassin, warrior… And mercenary."

--

"Avengers assemble!" Captain America shouted as the brawl started, much to Bishop's surprise as he finished blasting the Vision.

"What's he talking about? I thought our side was the Avengers." That was when Cap landed the sole of his left boot on the back of his head, slamming his face into the floor.

--

"C'mon, hurry up!"

"I'm finished! It's done!" The S.H.I.E.L.D. agents in charge of the portal back to earth now had something to worry about. "The gateway back to Ryker's locks in t-minus five seconds…"

That was when Dagger blasted them into unconsciousness. The Black Panther immediately seized the computer. "Are we too late?"

"No such thing, Dagger. Ryker's was the 'official' doorway from the negative zone, but there's still one more if I can remember that sixty-nine digit code…"

--

"… Mercenaries?" Janet said, raising an eyebrows.

"Mercenaries. I think that an explanation about how my world is set up is in order… At least the continent on which I live." Naruto said, uncrossing his fingers and leaning back in his chair a little, trying to put in order everything he remembered from his academy lessons. "In my world, ninjas are organized in 'villages'. Most of the countries have a ninja village, who are that nation's army but at the same time, they are an independent military force who will basically do anything that is asked of us to do. Babysitting, surveillance, spying, stealing… Assassinations. For the right price, everything."

"… That's… Disputable." Janet said. She remembered talking with Naruto about them being trained from a young ages to be killers, but mercenaries… He had missed that small detail.

"Each village has a different policies regarding which jobs to take, but I know that even mine, considered the most powerful and peaceful of the Five Great Hidden Villages, basically runs on the same terms: do things for money. Even there, they teach the basics that ninjas must not think of themselves as human but tools for the village. Must never show emotions. I personally loathe that teaching… But that's what they tell us when we're barely more than toddlers. From six years old up." Naruto narrowed his eyes, remembering a sword used as a tombstone, and he could hear the mumbling and the look of shock on the faces of the crowd in front of him.

--

"… Damn, that's… Darn, that's sick." Julian commented as Naruto kept on talking. Everyone in the room shared the same expression, apart Laura. Naruto had never told anyone about something like that, before.

--

"… Layla, you're not coming to watch?"

"… I already know what he's going to say." _But after that… Oh, god. Naruto, you really are crazy._

--

"… You've grown up in such an environment… And yet, you don't seem to have that mentality at all." Janet commented, hoping to bring back the discussion on a less serious topic.

"Probably because I slept through most of the ethics classes." He chuckled a little. "But the point is… The system works. Making ninja villages an organization that runs on money from outer sources, the countries make sure that they don't go on a conquest rampage like the single ninja clans in the old days did, otherwise they would erase their own source of income. And yet… There have been so far, three great ninja wars in my continent."

"Three… Wars." Janet repeated. She should probably try to tone the conversation down, but she just didn't feel like actually doing it.

"Yes. Three wars. All about territory, wanting to gain more power to add to the villages and consequently, more missions requests from the 'outer sources'. In short… All about money and 'survival of the strongest', to impose their presence and show their strength, to put other villages into place." Naruto said, and he could see a few of the older people in the crowd starting to talk among themselves. He smirked. "I bet that a few of the adult spectators have noticed a few disturbing similarities with some of your own historical facts."

--

"… Mom, like what?"

"Ehm… Later, Mary."

--

"I guess that visit to the museum has done him a lot of good…"

"Nico, did you die inside the bathroom?!"

--

"Black Panther's overriding our system, commander Hill!" In another room of the holding facility, Hill was gritting her teeth. "Program says he's rerouting their bridge to the Baxter Building!"

"CLOSE IT DOWN! NOW! THEY ESCAPE AND IT'S YOUR HEAD, DUBLONSKY!"

--

"They're onto us!" It seemed like Hill's incentive to Dublonsky was effective, much to T'Challa's chagrin. "They're closing Reed Portal! We've got ten seconds and counting!"

"Cloak, it's me." Dagger activated her intercom, channelling her speech to her partner. "We need the biggest teleport you've ever pulled. T'Chall is sending you the coordinates."

--

"I can't. It's too dangerous." The black superhero floated above the battlefield, observing and everything and realizing that indeed, it would be the biggest teleport he would have ever pulled. "There must be a hundred people here…"

"_You either pull it off or we're stuck in here forever, Tyrone! Do it!"_ Dagger cut him off with a scream. Cloak gnashed his teeth, closed his eyes and focused.

"I will try…" He willed the darkforce, his power, his cloak, to expand all over the courtyard, to suck in everyone in there.

"What the hell?" Johnny said, cutting in the mess of battle, he himself surprised at what was about to transpire.

"Oh, god. Tell me that isn't Cloak!" Not as much as Tony Stark, apparently.

--

"But the point is… We're not always at war. I asked myself, why is that? It's not like we have stopped working on money… Then, what is it?" Naruto said, but Janet understood that he wanted to give the answer himself. "It's very simple, actually. The villages have leaders, called Kages. They're the one pulling the strings, we could say. They retire once they decide to do so or when they die. The point is… They change."

"Yeah… Most people do have a limited lifespan, sadly." Naruto nodded.

"Exactly. What happens is that somehow, somewhen, they make leader someone who suddenly decides that he wants more power or more money, and he starts a war. The village complies because they are led to believe that they can win but mostly out of blind sense of duty, because ninjas are basically soldiers. That's why wars happen in my world…" Naruto paused, mustering the courage to voice that thought that would be downright destroying, and he mentally said sorry to Janet. "And that's also why registration as it is now is a big error."

Janet's eyes widened at those words, but before she could interrupt him he started talking again. "We do need registration because it's the safest way to keep in check superhumans, but the way it is now, it will turn all the superhumans from heroes to soldiers. Giving someone knowledge about your true name, your life, the things you hold dear… Is giving that someone total control over yourself. Now I understand that having a government of any kind administer the SHRA is a big error. What happens if by bad luck people unknowingly elect a new Nixon… Or a new Hitler?"

"Naruto!" On that she had to interrupt him. That was a mined camp.

--

"Holy shit, he actually came out and said that on live television?!" Santo said, falling from the couch.

"He came outright and said that the American people would be so stupid… So 'human' to actually do something like that…" Laurie said and then grinned. "Way to go, Naruto!"

--

"No, more like, how come they didn't interrupt the transmission yet?!"

"NICO! I'M BREAKING DOWN THE DOOR!"

--

"It has happened in Germany, why can't it happen anywhere else in the world? The problem is that America would possess something far more dangerous and powerful than atomic bombs." Naruto suddenly got up from his seat, his hands in his pockets. "Power corrupts… And absolute power corrupts in an absolute way'. Don't remember who said it, but it's fitting…"

"Naruto…" Janet was surprised that they hadn't interrupted the transmission yet, but she decided to just roll with it. "So, your opinion is that registration is needed, but not like this, right?"

"Exactly." Naruto nodded.

"Then… You have an alternate solution to propose? How to make the SHRA better?"

"…" Naruto grinned and faced the camera. "I don't. But I know two people who could give it to us, if they worked together."

--

"All the flyers, grab a friend! Now!" The captain ordered, and his soldiers obeyed as Cloak dropped them off in the sky above the streets surrounding the Baxter building.

--

"But the point is, they are so wrapped up in fighting each other that they won't listen to anyone, much less each other…"

--

"Iron-Man to all points: evacuate the area and contain the fight to midtown! I want no civilian casualties! You hear me? No civilian casualties!" The Iron-Man issued orders, and the forces of order obeyed as the battle raged again, this time in the middle of New York city.

--

"_It's time, Naruto."_

"So… To give you a solution…" Naruto said, turning away from the camera and starting to walk towards the glass window behind his seat. "To make sure that everyone, both normal people and superhumans alike will be able to sleep soundly… To make sure that children never ask again 'Why' again without someone being able to give them a reply…"

--

"… Mr Militia…"

--

"I will do the only thing I can do…" Said that, Naruto disappeared in a puff of smoke, leaving behind his clothes, much to the shock of the whole studio.

"Naruto?!"

"Janet! Something's happening in front of the Baxter Building! We need to cut for live feed!" Janet's eyes widened. She suddenly understood.

--

"Nico?" Xavin had broken down the bathroom's door, only to find the room empty. No Nico.

--

"N-Naruto?!" Cessily exclaimed, worriedly.

"_We interrupt the program to give you live feed from New York city. It seems like the two sides of the superhero Civil War…"_

"… Please, don't…" Laura instinctively brought her hand to clench around Naruto's necklace.

--

"Layla…"

"… Jamie… Don't talk."

--

"Are you sure about this, Naruto?" Nico Minoru had been asked of Naruto to do something in the past few days. A spell, a single spell that would prepare him to fight a battle.

"Yes, Nico. And thanks in advance."

"…" The witch sighed. She had a really bad feeling about it. "How many?"

"Two hundred."

--

"Spider-Man, watch… Uh?!"

"Hey! What's this…!"

"For the love of…"

Suddenly, it was like everything had come to a stop. The battle, the fury, the single blows. Everyone on both sides of the battle stopped whatever they were doing the moment something appeared in their line of sight. Something pink.

"… Tony, is this another one of your tricks?" Captain America shouted out loud, as he observed the pink dome of energy that had encircled their battle zone and a few hundred meters more all around them, in all directions. He didn't even bother to touch it, since it was probably supposed to keep them in.

"No." Tony immediately activated his scanners to analyze the dome, which he had touched with his armour, only to get a nasty electrical discharge in return. "Whatever it is, it's not my techno…"

"It's an energy dome specifically designed to keep superhumans trapped." Suddenly a voice boomed, and the people hearing it noticed that even if the voice was just one, it was like it came from many people at the same time, and all from above. All the superhumans trapped under the dome tilted their heads upward. "It extends in all possible directions. It has no effect whatsoever on normal humans, but whatever superhuman that gets inside, cannot get out again. The same goes for people wearing fairly advanced technological devices."

"… The boy?"

"Naruto?"

"It's been a while!" Two hundred blondes thundered together, all of them wearing different clothes from everything that Naruto had ever been seen wearing in all the time he has been a guest on that planet: it was a copy of his original shinobi clothes, black and dark orange, complete with forehead protector tied around his forehead and shinobi sandals. All of them standing on the buildings surrounding the Baxter building and the dome of energy. "It seems like you're still going at it? Fighting, I mean… Well, I give you some flash news: it ends tonight!"

"… He wouldn't…"

"Naruto, don't!" Both Cap and Iron-Man were leaders, and they immediately understood what trapping an 'enemy' contingent and such a relay of forces meant.

--

"Nico!" The night witch had appeared back in her headquarters again, scaring the hell out of her friends. "Where have you been?! Naruto is…"

"... I know." Nico said, biting her lower lip and raising her head to look at the screen.

--

"I tried to talk with both of your 'sides'! But you're so caught up in your fight that you don't even try and listen to me! Well…" The night-sky flashed red, as two hundred human shapes suddenly flashed with red light. At first just a fiddle light, then the light grew more and more brighter as more of their bodies got surrounded by a cloak of chakra, their features became more feral, and the chakra acquired the shape of claws, long ears and a number of tails. One… Two… Three… Four. "I came up with this solution, then!"

"… Four tails…" Ms Marvel's eyes widened, remembering what had transpired with that number of tails, before.

"Sweet fox hunting season…" Spider-Man cursed in his own way as the two hundred human shapes crouched in a four-legged position, ready to pounce onto their prey.

"I will kick your ass so hard that you will be able to do nothing but listen!" They jumped from the roof, towards the dome, letting out a roaring battle-cry as one man. The heroes prepared.

"Incoming!!!" Tony charged his blasters.

"Be ready!" Cap readied his shield.

--

"… So it begins." Uatu the watcher observed everything from one of his favourite positions on that planet. The top of the Baxter building. The two hundred shapes landed. The ground shook.

--

"… He didn't really do that, did he?"

"He did, Julian. He just declared war on both sides of the Civil War…"

"PORCO! AND HE DIDN'T INVITE US?!"

"Santo, shut up! For the love of god…" Cessily had basically crawled in front of the television as the image had been filled with dust raised by the impact of the two hundred figures all falling to the ground at the same time… Or so everyone thought.

--

"… Why am I not a pancake?" Peter slowly opened his eyes and by doing so found out why. Something had stopped the two hundred Naruto dead in their tracks. A rectangular barrier of invisible energy…

"Hgk…" No. An invisible force field. The invisible woman fell to her knees as the force field, currently holding two hundred red-clad figures a couple of meters over everybody's heads, started to slowly dissipate.

"Sue!" Her brother was immediately by her side, having noticed the bit of blood dripping from her nose.

"I-I'm fine, Johnny… Just… Give me a moment…" She replied, holding the side of her head as the force field disappeared and the fall of the Naruto began again.

"Don't use lethal force! We don't know which one is the real one!" Iron-Man used the full power of his auditory systems so that everyone could hear him, while locking on one of the two hundred red-clad ninjas. "The copies disappear after a single strong blow! Don't lose your head…" Tony ducked out of the way of a red-shaped energy claw. "And hit with precision!"

Using a mid-powered punch from his suit, Tony hit the Naruto in front of him straight in the middle of the chest. The blonde staggered back, but the red cloak of energy managed to keep him on his feet, his head and back thrown back… He then shot back up with a mischievous grin plastered on his face and mimicked the attack sending the Iron-Man flying against Doc Samson.

"… So you're the real one?" Tony observed his target, who just smirked even more. That was when another Naruto was thrown on his own one and both were sent flying for a few meters on the ground. Tony turned around and noticed that he had just been punched by Luke Cage. He turned to the two Naruto… And none had disappeared. "What?!"

"What? You thought that you were the only one able to plan ahead, Tony?" Yet another Naruto declared as he jumped through the air and tried to land, claw raised on top of Tony, just for the Iron-Man to start hovering in the air as well, just to be tackled through air by yet another Naruto. "So… Why my clones don't disappear with just one hit anymore? Why didn't I go black, bad and crazy like last time? Will you be able to solve this mystery Tony? Before I wipe out everyone in here?"

"… Naruto, you…"

--

**Battle 1: NarutoVSHuman Torch**

"Damn, last time I got surrounded by all these blondes at the same time was back in college…"

"Joke around when I'm trying to get a hold of you, will ya?" A Naruto clone grumbled as Johnny escaped his 'flying pounce', then another and another from two other clones. One of the advantages of the barrier was that it severely limited the mobility of the various superheroes around, but it seemed that some were pretty used to this. Johnny was managing to fly out of harm's way and dodge Naruto's attacks all the same.

"Heh, better people than you have tried and failed. Also, how will you get a hold…" Johnny dodged another Naruto and then burst a flame right in his face. "Of someone who's on fire?"

"Well…" This one came as a surprise, if the voice behind his back of a presence he hadn't noticed was any indication. "Like this, actually."

"Wh… Ohhh, shit." It was like Terminator all over again, or it had the feel of it. A giant red hand appeared in front of him and literally slapped him out of thin air, slamming him into the ground back first, much to Johnny's chagrin.

"You're gonna need a much hotter flame to get through my chakra cloak."

"… A much hotter flame, hn?" The fall hadn't been that hard, his flame literally melting the asphalt the moment he came in contact with it. "What about…" Another Naruto clone pounced on him. "This!"

This one was indeed, much hotter than the one before. The flame spurted away the red chakra cloak and heavily burned the Naruto clone, who winced and screamed in anguish. A mostly blackened arm, burns of extreme degree covering it all, was now in sight… Then, the burned up skin began to break down and fall almost immediately as the chakra cloak was repaired and new skin appeared under the damaged one. "Heh… Yeah, that was better… But we have another problem, as you see. I heal reaaaaaaaal fast, as you can see."

"Hmmm… That's actually good for me, you know?" The torch immediately got covered in flames all over his body again. "That means you can take a beating!" He shot his hands forward and a wave of fire erupted, heading towards the same Naruto clone, who crossed his arms in front of his face and took the brunt hit. The torch stopped and the flame disappeared, leaving place to a black, smoking, mostly naked Naruto. Johnny raised an eyebrow. "Damn. What kind of life have you had? The pain should have made you pass out."

"Well… I've already had all my skin burned out twice, actually. It hurts like a bitch indeed…" The Naruto slowly lowered his hands, showing a severely damaged face, maybe more horrifying than the rest of the body since this one wasn't completely blackened. Then, he grinned. "But I got better, you know."

"You got better." Johnny stated, a bit ticked off.

"I got better."

"Can't say the same about you, I guess…" Johnny turned around just in time to dodge another Naruto, and he got the impression that they weren't just two hundred anymore. He blasted this one with fire, and it disappeared in a puff of smoke. "Bit confusing, hn?"

"And the best thing is…" Another. This one didn't disappear, but left enough time for someone to grab onto him in the air.

"With all the people around…" Another one jumped at him and kicked him in the gut, much to his chagrin.

"You can't risk going Nova."

"Can you?" One by one, Naruto after Naruto, Johnny was more and more pulled to the ground. Some disappeared, but the most stayed on him. Once he got to the ground, they piled on him. Johnny cursed. It was the second time it happened in less than two months.

--

**Battle 2: NarutoVSPowerMan**

"Woah!" Naruto lowered his head on instinct, not really sure if he could take a full powered punch from Luke Cage even with four tails of chakra powering him up.

"Eh… Seems like you get a rematch, hn?" Cage says as Naruto dodges his right straight, but manages to catch him with his left hook right after, sending him flying through the air as another one comes at him from behind. "Alright! Let's do this!"

Cage turns around and backhands the incoming Naruto hardly while another one grabbed him around the waist, trying to push him onto the ground, but Luke resisted and just punched the blonde on top of his head. "OW! THAT HURT!"

"Happens when you fight." Without even turning around, Luke punched another Naruto with the back of his clenched hand. "So… What about getting serious?"

"… Tsk. Alright." The Naruto he had punched into the ground got back on his feet, and got into a pose that Luke remembered to have seen in a commercial of some kind of cartoon. "Ahhhh!"

Arms perpendicular to his side, whole body stretched. The red cloak of energy that protected him became thinner and thinner, and lost the tail-shape, becoming human. He noticed that in those few seconds, the overall muscular tone of the kid had heightened, along with his height and width. His eyes, now violet, fixed on Cage. "Now let's see just how strong I am!"

"Hmm… When did you learn to do that?" The black-skinned hero cracked his knuckles as Naruto chuckled.

"Actually, just a few days ago…"

--

"_BOSSBOSSBOSS! LOOK!"_

"_Damn, be silent! We're trying to… Uh?"_

"_See?! Four tails, but I'm not that bulky and I can move faster too!"_

"… _You get ramen."_

"_YAHOOO!"_

--

"A few days ago…" Cage shook his head, amused. "Well, let's try it for size!"

"Let's!" Both fighters pulled back a punch, Cage the left, Naruto the right, and threw them ahead. The two straights met each the jaw of the opponent, sending the heads of the fighters snapping to the side, the noise from the impact something incredibly loud. The two staggered back, the hit on the jaw disorienting them a little.

"W-Wow… That was…" Naruto held his jaw and his head both, feeling lots of bells ringing over and over in his head.

"Damn, kid…" Cage shook his head to side to side to clear his sight. "Now, that was a slug!" Luke grinned. "Guess I better start getting serious with you!"

"Eh? What… Ahh!" Naruto brought his hands in front of his chest to parry a straight from Luke, but his knee found its way to his stomach nonetheless, much to his chagrin. "W-What!"

"Hen!" Luke then palmed the top of his head into the ground, and with the rebound kicked him up in the air again. That was when he administered another punch to Naruto's stomach, sending him flying against a number of superhumans and then the barrier.

"Ghh… Ghk… Cough!" The Naruto slowly got back on his feet, spitting blood. "What… What the hell…" Naruto had gone through Luke's files a lot of times, but nothing was said about him knowing martial arts.

"How many years have you been doing this, kid? The whole ninja jig." Luke approached the fallen Naruto one step at the time, as the blonde slowly got back on his feet. The blonde spat out another bit of blood.

"Five years… Two years of active service, three of training…" Luke made the 'tsk-tsk' noise as he approached Naruto. "What?"

"That's the problem. You've got guts, power and skills. But you know what you've lack that most of the people around have?" Cage emphasized the point by throwing his arms to the side, pointing to the whole crowd under the pink dome. "Experience. I'm talking about real life battle experience. I've been throwing it down with other people ever since I was a kid. I've been living in the streets and I've also done time in prison. You learn lots of things…"

"T-That doesn't explain how the hell you learned martial arts!" Naruto cut him off with his explosion of rage.

"Ah, that? Nothing much. Only…" Luke Cage suddenly dropped into the same stance as before and Naruto barely dodged the punch to his head. A few of the hair of his head, though, got ripped by the sharpness of the amount of air the movement propelled forward. "My best pal is probably the strongest martial artist living. Trained me a little."

"… Geez. Way to keep it hidden on your file…" Naruto got back on his feet, looking at the now shortened strand of hair. _But he's right… They've got much, much more experience than me in every kind of fight other than their tremendous powers. How the hell do I compensate for it?_ And yet, the answer came to him almost immediately. After all, he had already done it. Defeating people with much more experience in fighting than him. How? "… Got to improvise."

"Stop talking to yourself, kid. You ain't Spiderman." Seriously. Peter is one of the few superheroes who can get away with talking continuously during a battle who aren't class 100 or over. Luke charged when Naruto did something that he didn't expect. He took a scrape of asphalt and threw it at him. Power Man just humoured him and let the piece of asphalt hit his abdomen. "Ehm… A piece of asphalt. How scary."

"Nah." Suddenly, the piece of asphalt disappeared. In its place, a blonde enveloped in red chakra, which he all gathered in his left leg in an instant. "It was just a setup."

"Wh…" Cage barely put up his hands in time, but he misunderstood Naruto's intentions. He believed that Naruto was aiming at his stomach, but the ninja's foot slammed against his chin, and he experimented first hand just what it meant to gather all that chakra in a single limb as he got rocketed high in the air and he suddenly found himself observing the crowd from above. _I think I heard my jaw crack…_ "What the hell was that?"

"A bastardized version of a move of a friend of mine. He's a martial artist too." And immediately, he was above him, and that same leg that had thrown him through the air was now descending upon him, enveloped in chakra yet again. Cage held up his hands to parry, since in the air he had no way to dodge. "Uzumaki Naruto Rendan!"

Ridiculous name, but the effect was there. He had been hit worse, but that hit from Naruto hurt nonetheless, and the impact with the ground wasn't soft either, if the crated he dug was any indication. It wasn't over, though, as the same Naruto immediately feel upon him, knees first. The asphalt cracked and they were both sent below street's level.

"… I have to fight like a ninja. I need to do what they can't do." He repeated like a mantra another Naruto, before dispelling himself. He had to make sure the others got this information, after all.

--

**Battle 3: NarutoVS****MsMarvel**

"… You seem in control, this time."

"Yes I am, ma'am." Naruto grinned at Carol's words. The woman on her part understood that Naruto was in control from the fact that he wasn't going crazy, he wasn't elongating and he wasn't using his full strength either. Otherwise, he would have just did that black ball to energy ray thing and wiped most of them off the face of earth.

"… Then why are you doing this?" Even if she said that, Carol rushed forward and tried to uppercut Naruto, who just dodged to the side.

"I thought it would have been clear enough." Naruto then jumped and landed hands first, and then sprung back, kicking the heroine in the face with both feet. "You don't listen to others. You don't even listen to yourselves anymore. So…"

"Gh!" The blow had caught her by surprise, but it didn't do much damage. "Gahk!" The punch in her stomach, on the other hand…

"I'm taking that task in my own hands." The two Naruto stood in a guard position right in front of the blonde haired woman, who was instinctively holding her stomach.

"… I understand…" She suddenly whispered, and then her head shot up. "Then the gloves come off."

"Wh…AHHHHHH!" Ms Marvel grabbed the two Naruto with her arms and then took to the sky. While she couldn't leave the dome, that didn't stop her to fly in circle gaining more and more momentum.

"I'm not as gentle as Tony, Naruto." Carol suddenly let go of the two clones, who got caught by the centrifugal force and shot out back to the ground. If the crash was any indication, that hurt like a bitch. "I'm a warrior! If you decided for this course of action, so be it! But…"

"Yeah, yeah. Don't expect any mercy." Carol was suddenly grabbed from behind and found her arms locked. She turned around to meet yet another smiling face. "Hey, there. I can't fly, but I can jump pretty high, you know."

"… Tony told me that your powers come from this energy which you cloak yourself into, if I'm not mistaken." Naruto blinked at that comment, but immediately understood as he felt his chakra going haywire and starting to disappear. "And what you know?! I can absorb any kind of energy!"

"Really…" Naruto swallowed, since he couldn't be certain if his plan would not backfire… But he had to take a chance. "Just how much can you take, then?!"

"Gh!" Carol almost lost her focus when he felt Naruto start pouring out as much energy as he could. A sick feeling started to course in her, like that energy had some mind of its own. She felt about to vomit, but she endured it. "As much… As needed!"

Naruto sweated, but a draw was better than nothing. As long as he kept on absorbing his energy and try to not let it out of control, she couldn't move.

**Battle ****4: NarutoVSTaskmaster**

"Ohh… I didn't know that one." The skull-masked mercenary's comment was due to Naruto's usage of an acrobatic move that he hadn't seen and since, hadn't copied yet.

"So… What were your powers again?" Naruto tried a 'claw blow' at the head, but Taskmaster dodged by backflipping while at the same time raising his blade. "YEOW!" It missed Naruto's nose by a hair's breath.

"Photographic reflexes." Taskmaster landed a couple of meters away, on the back of another superhuman and then jumped back at Naruto, this time trying to cleave Naruto's head off by the neck. "As long as I can see someone make a certain move, I can copy it."

"Uhk!" Naruto was so focused on the sword that he didn't notice the right leg shooting up, only doing it when the heel connected with his jaw.

"I fight like Iron Fist…" Another Naruto came from behind, but he jumped and flipped in the air, landing on the back of that copy's head. "I dodge like Spider-Man…"

"You do not!" Shouted Peter as he threw another Naruto over his head behind him with a backflip, in perfect judo style.

"And…" The first Naruto he had been fighting tried to punch him, but Taskmaster pivoted on his left foot… And then stabbed him right through the heart, from behind. "I fence like the black knight."

"Ahk!" It was like the whole dome had stopped, turning to that single Naruto, the first who had been mortally wounded. Tony had commanded to not use lethal force. Everyone stared as he started to choke up blood. "Caff… That's…" So much blood that oozed out of his wound and his mouth, ending on the ground… That's when it disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"That's so much like an ability of a friend of mine that I almost feel happy doing this." This time, Taskmaster couldn't dodge. He turned around just to find a Naruto, his body devoid of red energy if not for his right arm, who seemed to have undergone gigantism, in the meanwhile. He got palmed in chest… And thrown through the crowd behind him until he slammed face first into the dome, hard. He then fell to the ground, unconscious.

--

"Tony, he…"

"I saw." As Tony repulsor-blasted a Naruto away, Steve kicked another one in the stomach. The two had been about to fight each other when Naruto pulled his assault. "It seems that these clones are different from his usual ones… They do not disappear after a single blow."

"You have to kill them to make them disappear… But how can we do that?" Cap shield-bashed another one.

"Kill two hundred teens on live television? With the risk of actually killing the real one in the process? Not a chance we can do that." The Iron-Man blasted yet another one away. Then, something came to his mind. "… Wait, maybe… Cap!" Cap turned around and saw that Tony was aiming his blasters at full charge at a charging Naruto, who got hit dead on… And stripped of his chakra cloak. Steve was quick to launch his shield, which hit Naruto square in the back of the head after bouncing off the ground. The Naruto fell to the ground, unconscious… And the disappeared. "It worked! We can make them fall unconscious too to make them disappear!"

"But that cloak of energy makes it hard to land a solid hit on them. It protects his body… How did you do it, Tony?"

"After the incident at the refinery, I started studying a countermeasure in case Naruto ever went berserk again. The process has an emotional base, but the process requires him to focus an enormous amount of energy inside and all over his body." Tony landed an uppercut under the chin of yet another Naruto. "Studying the readings, I developed a disruptor ray that disrupts the cohesion of that kind of energy, rendering him unable to undergo his transformation. It works just fine in this case as well."

"How much does the effect last?" Steve grabbed his shield out of thin air again after a successful rebound, as the two backed towards each other and found themselves back to back, facing different sides of the battle.

"Ten minutes at best…" Tony made the calculations in his head. "I can hit them all at once, but that will leave my armour's systems scrambled for three minutes."

"I got your back." Steve immediately said, his eyes unwavering and focused.

"… I know, Steve. I know." Tony activated the intercom of his armour. [U

]"To all S.H.I.E.L.D. units around the perimeter! Whatever is making up this energy field, it's bound to give off enormous energy readings! Find whatever it is and shut it down!" Then, he closed it and started rerouting all the energy of his armour and more to the repulsors all over his armour. "To all capes, be ready! Don't kill, but give it your all!"

The Iron-Man then hovered in the air, reaching in an instant the barycentre of the dome, his whole being glowing of yellow light… Then, light filled everyone's vision.

--

"… He's really done it." The real Naruto said as he felt the energy of his clones fade and a few of them disappearing right after, losing their power up in the middle of an exchange of blows, probably. He had suspected that Tony had been researching some way to stop him from using chakra. "… But it's alright. Now, I just need to wait some more…"

--

"And get… OFF!" Luke Cage had finally managed to shrug off and make disappear the two Naruto who had gone underground with him. He had ended up in a rather messy point of the sewers. "This is NASTY! I swear I'm going to send these clothes to the kid to make him wash them himself… Uh?"

Luke had an half idea of climbing back up immediately, but he was distracted by a strange noise that he heard coming from behind, from a side-road compared to the sewer path he was on. "… Maybe…" Instinct told him to go after the noise. He followed his instincts.

--

**Battle5: NarutoVSMsMarvel(Continued)**

"Hnn… Ah?" The dome got 'flashed' by Tony's new weapon, this lead to an interesting change in Carol's situation. First, Naruto's grip had lost almost all his strength. Second, she felt like her insides were on fire. "AHHHHHHHHHH!"

"H-Hey! What… Woooooooooah!" The Naruto grabbing onto Carol lost its grip and plummeted down to its 'death', disappearing in a cloud of smoke where he should have crushed each and every bone in his body.

"P-Pain… W-What's happening?!" The Kyuubi's chakra was already difficult to control for Carol, having never 'tasted' that kind of energy. Add Tony's ray's effect, and there you had a pretty troubled Ms Marvel. "I-I have to let it out… But how… Ghhhh!" _The ground!_

In a flash, Ms Marvel had landed on the ground and had planted both her fist into the concrete right under her feet, and with a fierce battle-cry had started to pour everything she had absorbed into the ground… Which proved to be too much for the poor ground. Geysers of red energy suddenly started sprouting all around the dome's perimeter, sending people flying and popping out a few Naruto clones.

"… That was… A lot more than what I had expected…" Carol slowly got back on her feet, still a bit shaken. That was when a few Naruto jumped on her, one shouting 'DOGPILE'. The blonde woman was surprised for a moment… Just a moment. "Are you serious?"

Focusing strength on her legs, she stood up. That was enough to send all the Naruto around her flying. As more came at her, she started popping one after another with one blow. Without the protection of the cloak of chakra, they were just normal teenagers with a heavily trained body. No match for her. "Naruto, just stop!"

"Gahk!" The last one she hit had ended up slamming face-first into the ground in front of her, without disappearing. As it slowly got back on his feet, spitting blood, Carol grimaced.

"I don't know what Tony did, but it took away your powers! Your weapons!" The Avenger continued, towering above her target. "What's a warrior without weapons?!"

"… What…" Carol couldn't tell, but the Naruto in front of her went through three faces: surprise, a smile and then manly tears of happiness. "… A WARRIOR STILL!" He turned around in a flash, surprising Carol with the shout and the tears, and managing to slam a pretty big piece of concrete in her face. The woman staggered, but didn't fall down. The Naruto kept on crying. "… If I wasn't sixteen, I could ask you to marry me, right now."

"… Just… Go… To sleep." He did. With one punch. But at least, he had gotten a once in a life-time opportunity. Somewhere else, Deadpool cried manly tears as well.

--

"Nothing yet?!"

"_Negative, commander Hill! We just can't seem to get a track on the device!"_

"Extend the range! In every direction!" Hill gritted her teeth, not believing that a whole battalion of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents was being put off its mark by a single teen. _A teen, for god's sake!_ She slammed her right hand on the command console. "… Just where is he hiding that thing?"

--

--

**Battle6: NarutoVSCaptain America, Iron-Man**

"Tony!"

"Recharge at 55%."

"Take your time. Your weapon worked." Cap elbowed a nearby Naruto in the stomach and then slammed it face-first in the ground, knocking him out and making him disappear in a puff of smoke. "They are no longer a real threat."

"I can see that… But…" Tony had gotten a strange feeling ever since the start of the battle. About everything. While the reasoning behind the attack seemed to be in tone with Naruto's line of thinking, there was just no way the boy could believe of really being able to defeat all of them. The boy was headstrong, maybe naïve, but not THAT naïve.

"You noticed too?" Tony had counted 200 copies at the beginning of the battle, but the more the struggle progressed, especially after Tony's attack, the number became smaller and smaller, and Steve was getting that feeling too. "… I don't think the real one is among the ones fighting now."

"I agree. If I was him, I would be…"

--

"Sorry, Luke… But it's a bit too early for the cloaking device to go down."

"Zzzzz…"

--

"Guarding the device that keeps us trapped." The recharge was at 71%. "But what still eludes me is the sense of all this."

"… What are you aiming for, Naruto?" Cap said out loud as he threw to the side his shield, which rebounded between three Naruto before returning to him, making its targets explode in puffs of smoke.

"… Cap, did you have reinforcements planned?" Tony said as he got back on his feet and looked at the west.

--

"IMPERIUS REX!" A cloud of blue-skinned superhumans flying towards the dome wasn't easy to miss, after all.

--

"I hope you notified Namor of our situation. He isn't one for subtle examination of the field."

"Sue took care of it as soon as she recovered." Cap looked to the east, instead. "… Tony. Why?"

--

"Have at thee, vile traitors!"

"What he said." While the new heroes weren't that much of a source of worry, Thor, the Sentry and Captain Marvel were indeed.

--

"We needed firepower. We still didn't know if the Sentry would fight… Also, yes. That's Captain Marvel… We're still looking into it."

--

"… Damn. This is harder than what I thought." Naruto had received not only factual help by the cuckoos, but also suggestions. One of those was to meditate. It was an exercise that psychics performed in the early stages of trying to control their powers, since it allowed people to focus. In that instance, Naruto needed as much focus as possible, since he was trying to break his own limits. While he had learned to manipulate safely four tails of power, it seemed that with each tail he reached another threshold of difficulty. He couldn't lose his mind. Too much was at stake. _Focus. Think about what you have to do… Your objective._

--

"Ahh!"

"Calm down, Thor! You'll just break your weapon!" Reed was trying to calm down the rampaging clone as he tried to break through the energy barrier. In the meanwhile.

"Oh, come on! Not fair!"

"THERE WERE TWO HUNDRED OF YOU ON US AND YOU CALL UNFAIR ON BEING OUTNUMBERED?!" Spider-Man shouted in outrage as he 'twipped' web in Naruto's face and then launched him up in the air, making him land on his back after drawing a perfect arc above everyone's head.

"… Ouch." Then, it disappeared. The last Naruto.

"… That was the last one." Cap declared, while Tony contacted Hill.

"… And the real one is still to be seen. Hill, have you found that energy source?"

"_Negative, Stark. There seems to be… Wait a minute. What the…"_

"What…" The dome's energy suddenly started to wave and flutter, like it was struggling to keep its shape. Then, in a few seconds, it disappeared. "… It's gone."

"Hill, what did you do?" Tony began a full scale analysis of the surroundings.

"_Nothing! The thing shut down on its own, it seems… What… Stark, watch out! Below you!"_

"Below… Ah!" Tony cursed himself for not having understood it sooner, while an enormous red hand shout out of the ground and wrapped itself around 'Clor 2.0', sending debris flying.

"What manner of sorcery…!" Another identical one shot out from behind Clor. The two appendages grabbed on opposite ends of the superhuman… And then pulled. "AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!"

"Oh my god, he's gonna…" Rip. It was a cyborg built with organic parts, sadly. That meant that the new recruits of Tony's said got showered in red gore and circuits as the two colossal hands snapped the clone in half and then discarded the two pieces in opposite directions and then disappeared back into the ground. "GROSS!"

"Everyone, watch out!" Cap advised everyone, since it wasn't over yet. "The real one is still around!"

"Steve, he's below us! He's been this whole time…!"

"What..!" The leaders of the two factions couldn't finish issuing orders as the two red hands of energy appeared again, fast enough to catch them by surprise and wrap around their bodies. Then, the ground began to crack as a figure began to appear from under it.

"I know, I know." While most of it was familiar to all those who had seen Naruto cloaked in chakra, there were two important differences. The first one was the number of tails. There were five of them. The second one was the skull wrapped around Naruto's head, the maw open but the main part obscuring his face, revealing just two shining red eyes. "I look like a freaking Cubone."

"So…" Cap tried to break free, but to no avail. How could energy have such a solid grip, he would never understand. It wasn't the first time it happened to him. "You were waiting for this."

"Your target has always been us… But why wait so much?" Tony asked, faring slightly better against Naruto's energy's grip.

"Hmm… So many questions." Naruto noticed that some of the other superhumans were beginning to move on him. "Why don't we take this upstairs!"

He crouched, the floor cracking once again, and then he jumped. Along with Captain America and Iron-Man, Naruto landed on the roof of the Baxter Building, with a smash.

--

**Final Battle: Real NarutoVSIron-Man, Captain America**

"That… That was… Wow." The impact left a good impression on the roof of the Baxter building and on Tony's mind, it seemed, as he shifted off a piece of concrete and moved it out of the way. "Steve! Are you alright?!"

"I'm fine, Tony…" Steve had managed to land on his feet, instead. We're talking about someone who launched himself out of helicopters without a parachute during World War II, after all. "But where's…"

"Right behind you." Steve turned around as quickly as he could, but it was just enough to put his shield between himself and Naruto's open palm. Nonetheless, he got thrown forward and into Tony, who grabbed him and steadied Cap's form. The two superheroes' eyes immediately fell upon Naruto's energy enshrouded form, and even if they couldn't see it they were aware that Naruto was grinning. "Now, look at yourself. Helping each other and collaborating. Back down there too. If the others saw you, they might start getting ideas…"

"Naruto, what's the sense of all this?" Steve said as he got back on his feet, asking that question finally face to face with the teen ninja.

"Your plan was impressive, I'll give you that, but what can it bring?" Naruto suddenly began to laugh out loud, just as the cameras from the helicopters and the Baxter Building's video feed focused on him.

"But why, Tony! This is what you and Cap both want! That's what I'm doing!" Naruto shot his arms forward, but Cap and Tony dodged and then Tony aimed his repulsor blasts at the ninja, who made his arm pull the rest of his body forward, dodging and closing in on Cap, trying to smash him in the ground with his tails. "I'm giving you what you long for!"

"This is…" Steve was already having an hunch of what Naruto wanted to do, as he thought about it as he dodged tail after tail and then threw his shield. Though, there was a missing piece of the puzzle. A piece that instead Tony was well aware of as he hit Naruto with both repulsors 'specially' charged. Though, this time, they only managed to lessen the amount of energy enveloping Naruto for a few seconds, because of the higher concentration brought along with the fifth tail. That piece being, Naruto's appearance on Janet's show.

"And what is it that we want, Naruto?" Tony dodged two of the tails forgetting about Cap and instead lashing out at him.

"A fight, of course!" Naruto turned so that the shield hit his back and then jumped in the air, and that was when he went crazy. Turning on himself over and over, he began to lash out all around him with hands, legs and tails, using those same things to keep on turning around. "That's what you've been doing all this time! Fight, fight, fight! You want to keep on fighting!"

"Boy, you're…" Steve didn't finish because he had to dodge yet another crater-leaving open palm.

"I'm giving you something to fight! Why aren't you happy?!" If Naruto's voice was mocking at first, it was becoming angrier by the second. "Why aren't you fighting me back?! Why aren't you beating me into the ground?!"

"Naruto, don't stupid! We don't want to do that!" Tony had already understood, by the moment. "We never wanted a fight! A war!"

"THEN WHY DID YOU ACT LIKE YOU DIDN'T HAVE A CHOICE?!" Naruto landed down again, slamming all fours into the ground, even if he wanted to land on Cap, his voice the loudest he had been ever since. "YOU SAY YOU DIDN'T WANT THIS! THEN WHY DO YOU DO SO?!" Naruto lashed out with a tail at both Captain American and Iron Man, this time successfully wrapping around them, even if he had the sensation that Tony had let himself be ensnared. Naruto got back in a standing human position, and he forcefully removed the skull from around his head, even if it was already starting to grow back. "Tony! You fight for a good reason, but you've lost sight of some limits that shouldn't be crossed! Cap! You say you fight for peace, but you refused a chance for finding a way out of this peacefully, as forceful as that offer might have been!"

--

"_You didn't trust your friends enough to allow them a chance to talk__, to explain themselves! To find a solution to this! One person's death could have been avoided if you had just said 'Let's talk!"_

"… This is being broadcasted live all over the nation, right?" Janet asked over the phone to her contact at the television, making sure that it was so.

--

"You've done nothing that shows me that you do not want to fight! So, I'm helping you! I'm not letting this end!" The tails suddenly retracted behind Naruto's back, both heroes still grasped… And then they suddenly shot forward, releasing the two, throwing them off the edge of building, much to the surprise of everyone watching. "SO FIGHT!"

Naruto then swallowed, hoping that the two had finally gotten the hint, hoping that Tony was quick enough… He was. His actions were rewarded with the sight of Iron-Man holding up Captain America by his shoulders. It was working. He had had the first hint when no one of the other heroes had interfered for the duration of the fight.

"… Very well." Cap said, and that's when Tony threw him. The full body weight of Cap impacted against Naruto, shield first, in his face, made even more heavy by the speed with which the armoured hero had thrown him. Even with the protection of the chakra, Naruto felt his nose and jaw crack as Cap somersaulted back.

"Y-Yes…" He said, as Tony was in front of him, the arm parts of his armour covered by that particular energy. As the Iron-Man, hit him, Naruto felt his chakra begin to disappear. A simple blast wasn't enough to have lasting effects, but adding the weight and pressure of a punch, it worked just nicely with wiping off the chakra nice and clean. "Hgk!"

That was when Cap struck again, punch first. The two had gotten into a steady rhythm, alternating their blows. Tony shaved off the chakra, Cap hit Naruto before it reformed, and so on. He had also noticed how they were hitting in places where they were sure to hurt him, badly. Such as his hip. He had just broke a hip. "AAAAH!" And it hurt like a bitch.

"… Let's finish this." Tony declared as he cleaned off the chakra off Naruto's chin, and Steve didn't waste time in landing a solid punch there, cracking the jaw even more and paralyzing Naruto for those few seconds that Iron-Man needed to charge his blasters. "… I'm really sorry about this."

There was also the option of hitting Naruto at zero distance with the blasters, to shave off the chakra. This, Tony did. He put almost all the charge of his suit into that blast. Naruto felt his chakra disappear in thin air and scramble his insides, but Tony didn't stop there. He kept on pushing, and Naruto ended up embedded in a wall when he was done with. "… That was…"

The finisher came again, with Captain American and a shoulder charge shield-first that pushed the blonde ninja even deeper in the wall, deepening and lengthening the cracks echoing from the point of impact.

--

"Ahhh!" Cessily and Laurie turned away from the screen, the first with tears falling out of her eyes. Laura just kept on staring, not daring to turn away, already knowing what Naruto was aiming for.

--

"Molly, you can't just go to New York and kick Captain America's ass!"

"THAT JERK'S GOT IT A LONG TIME COMING! EVER SINCE THE FIRST TIME!"

--

"Layla…"

"… It's over."

--

"… It's over." Cap declared as Naruto slowly fell to the ground from his position in the wall. Tony knew that he was also passing out. While his regenerative ability didn't depend from the chakra, he knew that the thing highly accelerated it. Naruto wasn't going to wake up anytime soon once he did.

"That blow must have broken a lot of bones in his body… Just go to sleep, Naruto." Tony said, not just waiting for the finisher. He knew that the cameras around were showing by now only Naruto's head, face first on the floor.

"… W-Was it… Was it so hard?" Weak words came from Naruto's mouth as he struggled to raise off the floor, but he only managed his head.

"… What?" Steve asked, having noticed the cameras and understanding too what everything had been all about.

"… Working together. Talking… Making plans together… To solve a situation. Was it so hard?" Naruto continued, his voice going lower and lower by the second under the gaze of the two superheroes. "Then… Why… Can't you do it in this war too?"

"Naruto! Please, stay down! Your injuries…" But the blonde paid's warning no attention as he slowly got back on his feet, with a fearsome determination, even if every pain receptor in his body was going numb by the amount of information they were sending to his brain.

"Why… Do we have to choose between… Law without humanity…" Naruto raised his head, showing blood and bruises, and a swollen face. "Or freedom without safety? Why… Can't you just… Hack!" Naruto grabbed his throat and spat a big amount of blood on the ground. Many people looking at the thing through live television grimaced. "… Cap… Tony… You're the heart and brain of… Of the superheroes community… You can't… You can't have one without the other… Not if you want to make things right… I-I'm not asking for… For a miracle, for an immediate solution… I have no idea… What should be done… To solve this…"

The two superheroes just kept on staring and listening, noticing how Naruto was ready to pass out. His eyelids were dropping, he was shaking and he was almost dropping back to the ground. "… I… Just… Just…" He closed his eyes and began to fall forward. "Just talk… Please…" He passed out. Both Steve and Tony grabbed him, not letting him fall to the ground, smearing their uniforms with blood. His blood. All of this under the gaze of an entire nation and the superhuman community. Tony had made sure that the people down had seen the whole affair too.

"… Tony." Cap slowly leaned Naruto's body on the ground, in a position so that he would let out the blood that he could vomit during unconsciousness. "… Let's talk."

"… Of course, Cap."

_Continue…_

_In the next chapter…_

The epilogue. How will everything end? Naruto has given the leaders of the two factions another chance to settle things peacefully, but will they be able to do so? And how will things end for Naruto? Stay tuned for the last chapter!


	27. Epilogue

So... Here we are. It's been a long ride, hasn't it been? And I'd do it again all the way, all the same. ^^ I'm thankful to all the people who read, liked, and reviewed this story, and I hope you will continue on following my work in the future. From Meinos Kaen, for the last time on the pages of this story, Enjoy!

**No R****eading**

**Epilogue**

"… _The damages of yesterday's battle are contained, and no civilians have been harmed. This has been probably thanks to the interference of a 'third side', alias the superhero known as Militia. Yesterday evening, he has taken on both sides of the Civil War after some declarations made on live television. This made so that the very battle was broadcast live to the whole country. The two sides have called a truce, much to the pressing of a major part of the public opinion, visibly touched by the young hero's actions and intent. Nonetheless, the young superhuman currently remains in S.H.I.E.L.D. custody…"_

"… Please turn it off." Laurie sighed and turned the television off with a heavy sigh. She then turned to the group's redhead, who was still hugging a big pillow to her body and face.

"… Cess… I think you should get some sleep." She said.

"I probably don't need it." The blonde groaned.

"Look, 'Mercury'. Staying here worrying yourself to death is completely useless. And sooner or later, you will need sleep. I know it." Laurie pressed on, and the silver mutant just dug her face further into her pillow.

"… Maybe I should have tried to help Laura, then…"

"Yeah. Planning to break Naruto out of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s custody and getting knocked out by miss Frost is really smart, Cess." The blonde shook her head in disbelief and then put a hand on Cess' right shoulder. "Look, Cessily. For what it's worth, I'm sure that Naruto is fine. You know how fast he heals, and the Avengers just take prisoners. They do not kill. Also, did you see at the news how the country reacted? The president himself allowed a truce between the two sides. Do you have any idea what would happen if they suddenly ordered his execution or something?"

"… What if he stays in prison?" Cessily was about to cut into the pillow, with how sharp her digits were becoming.

"Then we will try and do something about it, but without rest and a clear mind, we will be too much of a mess to even think. Also, do you really think that Naruto would have thought all of this without a regard for his own safety?" Laurie asked. Cess finally moved her face, as much as she needed to stare at her blonde friend for a few seconds.

"… Yes." Laurie shut up. What was she thinking? Of course he would.

-Breakline-

"So... How is it, on the other side?"

"... The same as yours. Only... I don't feel like a criminal."

"That's how you felt like when you fight on Cap's side? A criminal?" The truce had allowed some of the groups who had had a falling out during the war to group up and talk. Some with success, others? Not so much. Like Cassie meeting with her fellow Young Avengers. The last comment had gotten a bit on Katherine's nerves. "So, no badge makes you a criminal now, Cassie?"

"That's the law, Katherine. Superheroes are supposed to respect it. That's what makes us heroes..."

"Wrong! Superheroes are supposed to always do the right thing! Even if it goes against the law, Cassie!" Katherine didn't let down, much to Patriot's annoyance.

"Would you tune it down, you two?" The leader of the group said, as he looked out of the window at the streets outside. "We're going to know who's a criminal very soon."

"As soon as Captain America and Iron-Man finish talking." The Vision commented, observing said conversation with a vantage point by wiring into the security cameras, only to find them turned off. The simplest way to counter a very advanced android.

-Breakline-

"Damn, you just had to go and get yourself captured by S.H.I.E.L.D., didn't you, boyo? Ah, there's that hand grenade." A certain red and black mercenary was equipping himself for war, or something very similar. Finding and getting out a certain blonde ninja out of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s custody. "Thanks to Cable, I'm not welcome onto Uncle Sam's lap any more, now I'm going to get at odds with that Hill chick too... Oh, well."

"You do realize you've been talking out loud again, Wade? In the middle of your apartment, in front of me?"

"Oh, come on! The issue still isn't over?!"

-Breakline-

"Layla, how are you feeling?"

"... Fine, but... So unsure." The girl was on the bed, hugging a book to her lithe frame. Most girls would have hugged a pillow or a stuffed animal, but Layla had never been like most girls. "I know he's alive, but... Jamie, I'm supposed to know stuff, but for the first time, I know nothing. What if he stays in prison for life?"

-Breakline-

"So... Now what?" The 'meeting' between the two leaders, was as informal as possible. Both wearing their super-costumes, no weapons armed, standing in front of old photos of the avengers, staring at them almost longingly. Scratch almost. "I'm glad... Someone forced us into talking, but I'm not changing my mind on this, Steve."

The Iron-Man started the discussion by making something clear. There was no amount of self-sacrifice in the world that would make him change his mind on what was needed on the future. "Super-humans are too dangerous to run around unsupervised. They need to be properly trained. They need to be held responsible for their actions."

"And I still refuse to give up the freedoms our founding fathers fought for just because it's politically expedient." Captain America retorted as adamant as Tony, glancing at him for for a while before they both returned their gazes to the pictures. "You're talking about giving the government control over every super-human in the nation. The young Naruto stated it on live television without shame, didn't he? That's a sentiment I share. Super-humans stay, governments change. I say no government can be trusted with that kind of power."

A few seconds of awkward silence passed as they both stared at the photographs of the old Avengers team. Tony sighed silently, remembering those good old times, when they knew who to trust, and they trusted Captain America above everyone else... That's when it hit him. "But you can."

"I'm sorry?" Steve was caught off-guard by the strange words and the sudden gesture from Tony, turning to him quickly and stretching his arm and open palm in his direction.

"Steve, you stood with me when we confronted the Young Avengers and told them they'd either have to quit or submit to training in the use of their powers." Tony still remembered it as clear as day. There had been few times when Cap had been as adamant on something. "You don't disagree with the philosophy behind the registration act, you disagree with the government being the one to administer it." Then Tony displayed that knowing smile. "So you do it." Much emphasis on the 'you', he put.

"I don't think I'm any more qualified than..." Steve immediately went into 'humble' mode, but Tony wouldn't have any of it.

"Oh, please, Cap! You're pretty much the only person in the world everyone would trust with their real names!" The Iron-Man immediately said, his mind already working everything in a plan to make the idea a reality. "Let's take the government out of this. Make the Avengers responsible for policing our own."

Steve was silent, even if his mind was already having a fight over the concept. "We'll consult with the government... Work with them the way we've always have. We'll train young heroes in the use of their talents, and make sure active heroes use their power responsibly. But at the end of the day, superhumans' identities would remain secret... Known only to you." Tony concluded with a pretty fierce statement. "Cap, it's the only way I can think of to solve this without any further bloodshed."

"I don't know. That much responsibility in the hands of one man..." Cap opted to stare at vacant space, weighting the matter and pondering it, but still feeling a lot uneasy just at the thought. "... What if I'm killed? Or compromised somehow... Or mind-controlled?"

"I'd install the most sophisticated security measures to prevent that. We could also have trusted telepaths perform regular checks." Tony put a hand on Steve's left shoulder, to reassure him and also to make him turn around to face him. "As for your death... Hand-pick your successors. Sharon Carter, the Falcon... Whoever you trust the most. I'll back you up."

"I... Tony, I just don't know." To Tony, that was a success. That was enough. Cap was thinking about the matter, taking in consideration a 'Yes'. He just needed a further push.

"Cap... It's not enough to be against something." The Iron-Man continued, putting the final nail in the coffin of the Civil War. "You have to be for something better."

The two superheroes then turned again to the pictures of the Avengers, and Steve understood what Tony meant. The Avengers had always been against odds, against powerful enemies, against world-sized menaces... But had they ever stood for something? Had they ever stood for change? "... You really think you can sell this to the government?"

"Cap... I won't have to." Tony smiled, as his soul finally found peace after weeks of grief. _Thanks, Naruto... Thanks._

"Though, Tony... I have one condition." It was the Iron-Man's turn to be caught off-guard, but the smile on Steve's face told him that it was nothing bad.

–Breakline-

"Well... This is so not like what I thought prison would be." Naruto said as he observed from his bed his surroundings. "First thing, the uniform is orange. I love orange. Then..."

"That's so not prison food. And a television?" He blinked as a familiar voice suddenly echoed in the closure of his cell. He got on his feet and observed as the Obsidian Witch, alias Nico Minoru made her appearance in a puff of purple smoke. "Are you sure you're a captive?"

"Well, I can't leave my cell, if that's what your asking. Ah, you've materialized upon my bathroom." The girl 'yuck'-ed and immediately got off the W.C. Much to Naruto's grinning. "So, what brings you here?"

"What do you think? I'm breaking you out." The girl said, checking the hem of her long skirt for any sign of biological waste. Naruto blinked and then smiled warmly.

"Heh... Thanks for the thought, but I'm not interested."

"What?!" Nico raised her voice, uncaring that someone could hear her, at the moment. "Are you crazy?! What if you stay here for life?"

"I have a feeling that it won't happen. Power of the media, you know..." Naruto said, then he heard footsteps approaching. "You might want to hide... Oh, hell. There are cameras in here, so it's pretty much useless by now."

Nonetheless, Nico hid behind Naruto on his bed as a guard approached the door of Naruto's cell. "Oy, kid. You might want to turn on the thing. I have orders to make you watch."

"Orders? Then, by all means let me see." Naruto said, grinning as he turned on the device. The image displayed a huge press conference, and standing behind a stall and a number of microphones, Tony Stark. _... This ought to be good._

-Breakline-

"Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for coming at such a short notice. I've asked you here to announce a major development in the conflict over the superhuman registration act." Tony introduced, not breaking eye-contact with the crowd in front and beneath him. "It's over. We've reached an agreement."

The reaction was silence, since the mention of an agreement was keeping them all on their toes. Tony knew this well, and he knew the thing was keeping on their toes everyone looking at their screens in that moment. He had asked the conference to be displayed on every channel on every television in the USA... And the world too, but that was only thanks to certain friends of his. "The act will be administered by the Avengers, under the leadership of the one man we all trust to perform his duties with honour and sound judgment..."

As he moved his head to his left, to the moving curtain, to the man stepping forward from behind them, the heads, the gazes, the cameras, the microphones followed. He heard them gasp even before he raised his arm to point and he spoke that name. "Captain America."

-Breakline-

"WHAT?!" Sufficient to say, Director Hill and the president weren't very happy of not having been notified.

-Breakline-

"What the hell?!"

"Ahahahahah! Good one, Tony!" Naruto started laughing while the guard outside cursed in surprise. "Take that, S.H.I.E.L.D.!" He laughed as he heard the guard leave grumbling and Nico got out of her hiding place. "See? Everything's over, now."

"Everything what?! They said nothing about you! They could..."

"They won't." Naruto cut her off with a smile. "Nico, trust me on this. I'm going to get out of here very soon. I will probably be punished or something... But they won't leave me in here. Hell, I became the poster-boy for this whole thing, by now!"

"... Are you sure?" Nico asked again, sighing in defeat. He was irremovable, it seemed.

"As sure as I could ever be." He got up on his feet as well, and Nico surrendered. She just hugged him around the waist and he returned the gesture. "Say hi to the others as well, alright?"

"... Of course." She then kissed his right cheek and disappeared in a swirl of smoke, leaving a stretching and grinning Naruto alone again.

"Now, I wonder what's happening with the others..."

-Breakline-

"Hijo de puta! He did it!"

"Santo, language!"

"And now we party!"

"Julian, alcohol is prohibited on school grounds!"

-Breakline-

"So... It went well."

"More than well. I was 100% sure that the president would be forced to approve... But I didn't expect the other thing." Steve and Tony, a week after their declaration in public tv, were currently walking through an helicarrier's corridor with a steady pace. "Director of S.H.I.E.L.D.... Well, I guess it's better this way."

"Probably. You have twice the brain of Nick Fury and I'm sure you won't pull another 'Secret War'." Steve said, smiling. Tony raised an eyebrow at that.

"Depends on the stock markets values... If I could get some big profits out of it..." The look Steve gave him amused him. "I know, I know... Bad joke."

"Yes. Though, I can feel unrest in the air." Cap placed his naked palm on a pad to open a door in front of them. "It's understandable, though. We went from a situation were super-humans were hunted down to now, where we are seemingly in control."

"Most just think that this way we'll keep on each others toes. The times you stood up to Fury are legendary. They think you're going to do the same with me." Tony said as he placed his own palm on another pad.

"And they think that giving you control over S.H.I.E.L.D. Is going to help you keep me in control, having the man power and a deep knowledge of the super-human communities... Is it that hard for people to think of collaboration?" The two super-humans kept on walking through the corridor, which was now adorned with prison cells.

"For once, I'm glad they didn't. Otherwise they would think that we're trying to take over the world or something... Oh, well. Here we are." The two stopped in front of a cell which Tony opened with again his naked palm and a retinal exam. The door slid to the side to reveal a blonde teen stuffing himself with ramen, if the empty bowls around were any indication.

"Hey! It's been a while, you guys! Saw you on TV!" Naruto interrupted his harvesting of noodles for a moment, a few hanging out of his mouth. He then slurped them up, earning quite the reactions from the two adults. "You pulled quite a number! Nice I didn't let you kick my ass for nothing!"

"... You let us." Tony stated and Steve just stared. Naruto stared back grinning. Then the grin slowly died bit by bit.

"Alright, alright... You really kicked my ass." He admitted, then scowled and downed the last of the broth by drinking directly by the cup. He then cleaned his mouth with the left sleeve of his prison uniform. "So... When do I get out of here?"

"That's what we're here for, actually. To... Discuss the terms of your discharge." Tony sat down on Naruto's bed, dodging a few bowls scattered on the ground. "While what you did saved our hides, you basically attacked the whole super-human community on live television. That kind of stunt, especially from young heroes, is the kind of stuff that we don't want happening any more. So, you understand that you're not going to just get out of here unpunished."

"Hmmm... Thought so." Naruto grumbled a bit, but then sighed. After all, he was expecting it. "So... What's my punishment? What are the 'terms'?"

"Well, first thing... We're going to put your life in danger." Naruto blinked at that, not really understanding Steve's choice of words. "Simply put... We're going to put information in your brain. Information that will make you a target in case someone got to know that you possess them."

"Information? What kind of information?" The blonde asked, something itching at the back of his head.

"All the details about the real identities of every super-hero under 21 years of age." If they could, Naruto's eyes would have jumped out of their sockets. Tony continued. "Basically, you're going to have the same role as Steve, only, yours will be a secret."

"W-W-W-WAIT A MINUTE! WHY?!" Naruto shouted, earning chuckles from both of them.

"Simple logic, Naruto. The point is, either you accept, or you stay in here for say... Life?" Naruto gasped at the Iron-Man's 'proposal'. "So?"

"... It's not like I have a choice!" Naruto groaned, holding his forehead. _That much responsibility in the hands of one person... This is going to suck... Wait a minute._ "... Everything everything?"

"Everything everything." Naruto slammed his head in the floor. "Alright, enough. There's the other part."

"More? What, you going to put a living nuclear bomb up my..."

"You're going to work for us in a certain project we're going to put into motion in a few days." Cap cut off Naruto before he could finish the sentence. "You're going to be... An instructor of sorts."

"An instructor? As in, a teacher?" Steve nodded, and Naruto headbutted the floor yet again. "... Even more responsibility... Alright. But I have a condition for that, then."

"A condition? What..." That's when the wall exploded.

"Alright! Didn't think I had the guts of doing it, hn? I rode the bomb! Take that, Peter Sellers... Ah, nope. The Texas guy was another actor..."

"... Perfect timing, Wade. Perfect timing."

-Breakline-

"... When are they going to say something about him?"

"Not anytime soon, it seems, Cessily." Again, for the news, the younger mutants had gathered in front of the television, waiting for something to be broadcast about their friend, but nothing yet had appeared. For all that they knew, he was still in prison, and that was killing the small group of mutants.

"... Where's Laura?" Cessily was very worried about Naruto, but she was even more worried about Laura. She seemed pretty adamant on this break-out plan of hers.

"... Preparing." Laurie confessed. "Don't worry, though. It's not like they're going to let her go just like that... The older x-men, I mean." Everyone stared at the blonde girl like she had just grown a second head. "... That was stupid, I know."

"... I'm going to go check on her..." Cessily said, looking for something to take her mind off the matter.

–Breakline-

"... I'm ready." She had taken a bad habit of talking to herself out loud. That could cost you your life, on a mission. She knew that well. It had been driven into her brain. And yet, ever since he... She sighed and zipped close her bag, the necklace around her neck making a soft sound as it was moved around.

"Didn't I tell you to look after the others till I came back?" She let out her claws and almost stabbed him into the stomach, but she stopped the moment she recognized the voice. "Woah! Was I that much of an ass when I left?!"

"... Na... Naruto..." She froze in that position, just about to stab him. Then she slowly retracted claws and arms and then moved her gaze to stare into his eyes, missing his grin.

"Yep, it's me. Sorry about sc-ph!" For a few instants, before she needed to focus on his lips.

-Breakline-

"You can be as crafty as me sometimes, Cap." Tony said as the two were dressing up before it was time to talk to the press yet again. "That was terrible, what you did to that kid."

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Steve said, mocking his friend.

"Don't give me that. You know what I'm saying. By giving that boy that much responsibility... You basically tied him for life with our planet." Tony sighed. "I know that you meant well, but... It's just, it wasn't needed. The teacher jig was already enough, knowing his personality, and he has friends here..."

"Friends isn't enough, Tony." Cap adjusted his tie with some difficulty. "To become a true leader, you must experience different weights on your shoulders, different burdens. The burdens of expectations, the burden of protection... The burden of having the responsibility of power over others' lives is the most important. It's handling that responsibility that reveals what kind of leader you are... And it makes you grow, no matter how you handle it."

"... So, you want to make him grow..." Tony said, thinking about Cap's words. He had thought of doing something like that in the future, but so big, so soon... Would he crack under all that pressure?

"Laura? I'm..." Cessily froze just before she put knuckles to wood, hearing a familiar voice coming from behind the door. She opened it in a flash and there he was, struggling for air. "... Naruto..."

"... Pah!" Laura let go of Naruto as she was distracted by Cessily's sudden apparition. "Ah, Cess! I was going to come to you right aft... Hngh!" After throwing the door shut, Cessily launched herself at Naruto too, which became positively purple in a few seconds. Naruto managed to push her away, though. "Hey! I need oxygen to live!"

"... You're out... Thank god, you're out..." Cessily settled for hugging him, a gesture Laura mimicked. Naruto sighed and then returned the gesture.

"Hey, no tears, alright? I'm free, I'm unharmed and I'm a superhero. All's well. So... Smile for me?" Naruto said, settling on Laura's bed as the two reluctantly let go of him, but they took a hand each. "... So. How are the others?"

"They're worried too." Cessily sniffed and then placed her free hand over her chest. "But it's alright, now... You're back..."

"Well... That's why I visited." The two girls immediately tensed, feeling that there was something that he had to tell them. "You see... I'm not back. I will be back every now and then, probably at Christmas and other occasions, probably my birthday... But I'm not back."

"... What did they want?" Ever the sharp one, Laura already understood that Naruto had to compromise something to get out of prison, considering the volume of the stunt he had pulled. The blonde just grinned.

"Nothing bad, do not worry. They... Gave me a job to do. I'm even going to be paid for it. Only... I'm going to be stationed elsewhere." Naruto smiled a bit sadly. "I'm gonna miss all of you a lot... But I can't help it. I'm going to have to teach there for at least an year."

"... Where are you going?" Cessily asked, and at that, Naruto perked up.

"Actually, quite close. They're building a new facility in Stamford, where the school once was. It's gonna be a symbol of change or something. So, I'm not going over-state or anything." Naruto grinned like a loon and then stood up. "Well... I guess this is it."

"T-This is it?!" Cessily got on her feet, shocked by Naruto's attitude. "What about... I mean..."

"... Uh? What? … Ahhh!" Naruto smacked his head, and then wagged his finger at the redhead. "Cess, really, do you even have to ask?" The blonde took the girls' hands, grasping them gently with his own ones. "This doesn't change anything for me if it doesn't for you. I still... Well, you know." He blushed, not really being one for words.

"... Idiot." This was Laura, surprisingly. She softly leaned her head against his chest, and then she remembered she had something of his. "Naruto, this..."

"No." He raised his hand to stop her, with a grin plastered on his face. "As I said, till I get back, it's yours to hold onto."

"... Alright." Laura acquiesced, and Naruto caressed her head for a while, before letting go.

"So... I gotta go. Say hi to the others for me, will you... Uh?" Naruto suddenly found out that he couldn't move. Cessily had shapeshifted so that she had completely enveloped Naruto's right arm with mercury.

"... Can't you... At least stay the night?" Cessily started, blushing all the way to her fingertips. "... With... Me? With us?"

"Stay the..." Naruto's mind immediately went there, considering the latest development in their relationship. He blushed scarlet. "C-Cess! I... I mean... It's not..."

"... I see." Cessily turned her head to the second mutant girl in the room. "Laura, I'm going to need your help here."

"... Of course." Laura smirked, and Naruto blushed and shuddered at the same time. As the black haired girl locked the door, Cessily shoved him on the bed, blushing as much as him. Then...

"Hey!" She cut open his shirt with a mercury blade. "My shirt!"

"You'll survive without it..." Cessily said, releasing him but starting to crawl on him, on all fours. Naruto was about to make a break for it, but the other side was immediately filled by Laura, in the same position. "So... Here we are..."

"Indeed." Laura commented, and Naruto felt like a mouse under the gaze of two very big, very hungry tigers, even if one of the tigers was blushing.

"C-Can't we talk this through?" He swallowed as the girl crawled on him more and more, the combined feeling of Cessily's cold fingertips and Laura's warm digits making him shiver.

"... You should know the answer, N-Naruto..." Cessily lowered her head and started kissing his chest with feather-like pecks, making him positively tremble.

"Resistance is..." He gasped loudly when Laura licked a trail from his jugular to his left earlobe. "Futile..."

-Breakline-

"... I'm going to need a tissue..." Laurie said as she held her nose and walked away from the room. She probably had the best or the worst timing in the world, depending on how you looked at it.

-Breakline-

"Damn... Those two... I-I didn't believe I would get out of there alive..."

"Promises, promises..." Deadpool commented, shrugging his shoulders as the two of them left the Xavier's grounds, Naruto still a bit woobly, dawn setting behind their backs.

"What, you jealous? Come on, now that you know henge..."

"My rage is the one of jealous fanboys. Do you have any idea how many people have ever fantasized about bagging either one of those two?" Naruto snorted and shook his head. "Still, I don't understand why you asked for me as a partner in your 'conditions'."

"Well... First, because you were looking for a chance to go 'legit', right? Second, I needed some fear leverage, if I'm going to be a teacher. Third..." Naruto grinned and turned to Wade completely. "You want me to believe you've never thought about doing your impression of gunnery sergeant Hartman?"

"... You read my mind, padawan. You really read my mind." Deadpool grinned under his mask, and that's when Doc Strange made his entrance, in a cloud of purple smoke. "Hoi, doc. I believe we were going to wait for the end of my current series or something..."

"Deadpool... I'm not here for you, as you can probably guess. I'm here for the young one by your side." Naruto grinned.

"Hey, doc. It's been a while, hasn't it?" The sorcerer supreme just smiled at the shinobi's exuberance. "So... What brings you here?"

"First, I wanted to thank you. I think that your intervention gave the opportunity to solve this whole 'Civil War' matter peacefully, for a chance." Naruto grinned even more, before remembering that he had been 'punished'. "And second... For a gift, we could say."

"Uh? A gift?" The blond blinked at that. He didn't see any packages or anything nearby, but it was the sorcerer supreme he was talking to, after all.

"Yes, a gift... Of knowledge." Deadpool said something under his breath along the lines of 'lame', but the good doctor ignored him. "Tell me, young Naruto... Would you like to know about your parents?"

"... My..." Naruto's eyes widened. This 'gift of knowledge' had not been really welcome to him at first, because of the amount of knowledge he was already forced to carry with him, but... This was welcomed knowledge. "... Yes. I do."

"Oh, come on! You can't end the whole story like th-"

-EpilogueI-

"**Two-hands..."**

"Leave me alone."

"No, Holku." Their king was kneeling in the middle of what was left of his city, of his people, of his love, of the peace he had fought so hard for. All disappeared in a flash of burning light. "We are warbound. To the end."

"Look around you, Hiroim. This is the end." He didn't get up, even as the comrades he had made during this latest struggle prompted him to react. "Nothing left to save. Nothing even left to smash."

"Maybe not here... But the robot has a map of the entire universe in his head." Those words made something move inside him. Something he had thought to have buried for the good of all, including himself and his other self, or were they one and the same? It was so difficult to understand, the way they had collaborated, the way they had fought and thought together, the way they had loved together.

"I bet you can figure out some place you'd like to go..." He got back on his feet, the rage he was supposed to have suppressed now back, bigger than he had ever felt, bigger than anyone had ever feared...

This is the story of the green scar. The eye of anger. The world breaker. Harkanon. Haarg. Holku. Hulk.

And how he finally came home.

-Epilogue2-

"How does it proceed?"

"With haste, father." The new father was observing the work of his children, building the machines and the weapons that they would need for what was foretold. For the coming of the anti-christ, what their previous guidance, Stryker, had been revealed by a vision.

"Yes... This anti-christ shall not take us unprepared! The will of god will be made!

-Epilogue3-

"The fat lard finally found out the next one?" The figure spat what white meat was left in his mouth on the ground as its comrade approached him, handing him a piece of paper, with a picture and various coordinates and information. "... Ohhh... Is he..."

"Yes." The messenger simply replied, and the figure laughed out loud before getting back on his feet.

"How suitable for him to be number nine, then!" He then crushed the paper ball and threw it on the ground behind him. "Call the others, honey! It's time to go hunting for foxes again! Good thing too. I was kinda tired of walking through the ashes of yet another lifeless world. After a while, it loses its appeal..."

**No Reading**

**The End**

_To be continued in:_

_No Limits  
_


End file.
